As the holidays are upon us, a common greeting is "Have a happy and healthy New Year." The problem is, the cost of maintaining good health is soaring.
So many folks are rethinking the value of a college education. As a matter of fact, we've recently had a post on the pros and cons of a college degree. I've always felt, no matter where the education comes from, it's something that can never be taken away from you.
Although the Dow Jones Industrial average posted a 125-point gain on Friday, it was down a bit for the week. The massive drops on Monday and Wednesday of 635 and 520 points respectively, indicate that the market feels exactly what businesses and consumers are already thinking: we could be headed for another recession.
Although there's still a lot of uncertainty in the housing market, the drop in home prices has made home ownership very alluring. However, you may think you don't qualify for a mortgage. It might not be as bad as you think.
Conventional wisdom is you're better paying off your own mortgage than someone else's, which is what you're doing when you're renting. However, as we've seen in the last couple of years, the housing bubble burst and perhaps this isn't true anymore as we've witnessed house prices plummeting in certain areas of the country.
The latest numbers from the government indicate the median length of unemployment is 5 1/2 months. Going without a paycheck for this amount of time can do considerable damage to your financial well-being. If you had an emergency fund, it is depleted, if not completely gone; otherwise, the only way to cover your shortfall is to either increase your credit card balances substantially, or cash in your investments, or both.
...not the marriage kind...
But just what does it mean to be more excited about what you spend at least 8 hours a day doing! If you're not, it may not be your fault. Just as a lack of financial education, which isn't your fault, can lead to poor spending habits, a lack of concern on the part of your employer to get you engaged at work is also not your fault. This can lead to poor morale and poor performance.
Due to the recession, households have been holding back on spending. A weak job market has made people afraid to spend; a weak housing market has made many people feel less wealthy and therefore reluctant to spend, and with the recent increase in gas prices consumers don't have the money to spend on other things. The National Foundation for Credit Counseling conducted a poll; 66% of respondents said they were suffering from "frugal fatigue." Retail therapy, here we come...
Your FICO score ranges between 300 and 850; the higher your score the more likely you'll get charged lower interest rates on loans, you'll have lower insurance premiums and you'll get a job. The best way to improve your FICO score is to focus on your history.
Due to the fact that financial literacy is generally not taught in school, young adults graduating from high school are entering the world not knowing how to handle money properly. CapitalOne conducts an annual survey on the state of financial literacy among graduating high school seniors. This year 40% don't feel comfortable managing their money.
Ever wonder what happens after you send your resume? I'm not talking about the time in the postal system or how it travels through the electronic labyrinth of the internet, but what happens after it gets to the company you sent it to?
On March 7th, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart cited seven reasons our unemployment rate remains stubbornly high.
So you just graduated and you can't find a job? No worries, you think you can hide by going back to school. Let's see...what should I study? Oh, I know, I'll get a law degree, that'll take me three years.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for four consecutive months ending in November, 2010 (the last month for which data exist,) more employees have been walking off the job than have been laid off. It really doesn't seem possible in a mark
Believe it or not, it may be because of your credit history.
Yep, increasingly employers are checking credit reports before they hire.
If we look deeply into the crisis in Egypt, we'll find the root of the uprising, as is true about most uprisings in our history, is food.
It has now been nearly two straight years with unemployment at 9% and greater. One of the ancillary effects of this long recession and its high unemployment is a downward pressure on wages.