October 31st, 2011 By Gary Silverman, CFP® Older Baby Boomers are starting to enter their retirement years. Generation X-ers (those born between 1965 and 1976) are in their prime earning years. Both generations have been studied to death. But now we are starting to get some indication of how Gen Ys (born between 1977 and 2001) are turning [...]
October 28th, 2011 By Jason Alderman Senior Director, Global Financial Education, Visa, Inc. Admit it: You probably spend more time comparison shopping online than you do reviewing your annual benefits enrollment materials. That’s a big mistake, though, because the money you could save by choosing the right employee benefits package probably far exceeds any savings you could get [...]
October 27th, 2011 Parents have any number of reasons for wanting an adult child to marry: They want you to have companionship. They want you to be settled. They want grandchildren. But a new survey suggests there’s also a financial argument for getting married. According to Charles Schwab, the investment management company, married people are more likely to [...]
October 26th, 2011 By Gail Cunningham Halloween tricks or treats come along only once a year, but the consequences of financial decisions usually last far past the next spooky holiday. Options that seem good on the surface, if not handled properly, can have long-lasting negative consequences. To understand how a seemingly good financial move can work against you, [...]
October 24th, 2011 By Sara Gilbert, GreenPath Debt Solutions Why do we wait to take action? Especially when the chips are down and decisions are difficult, taking action can be tough indeed. Doing nothing, though, has its own set of consequences, so why do we wait? In our counseling sessions at GreenPath, many if not most clients, tell [...]
October 21st, 2011 By Jason Alderman Senior Director, Global Financial Education, Visa, Inc. If you’ve got a high school senior, your household is probably knee-deep in senior-year activities – and expenses. Not to elevate your stress level, but this is probably a good time for you and your kid to start investigating how you’re going to finance college [...]
October 20th, 2011 The NFCC has received a grant of $250,000 from Wells Fargo & Company to support the delivery of foreclosure-prevention counseling. The NFCC appreciates Wells Fargo & Company for recognizing the continued need for nonprofit foreclosure-prevention counseling, and supporting it through this grant to the NFCC and its member agency network. “Wells Fargo’s commitment to funding nonprofit [...]
October 19th, 2011 By Matt Bell I was surprised to read recently that there’s been a strong drop in the number of people turning to credit counseling agencies for help in paying back their debts. After all, plenty of people are still struggling under the weight of too much debt. Gail Cunningham, spokesperson for the National Foundation for [...]
October 18th, 2011 By John Ulzheimer The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act of 2009 requires that people under 21 have a co-signer or a job in order to open a credit card. Further, the same law requires lenders to confirm an applicant’s capacity to pay their debt for any other loan. This has thrust the prospect [...]
October 17th, 2011 The NFCC’s September online poll revealed that 24% percent of more than 1,400 respondents would not tell their spouse if experiencing financial difficulties. Reasons given for withholding the information included the fear that it would worry the spouse (9%); that the spouse is unaware of the debt (8%); that it would damage the relationship (7%). “Even [...]