Posted April 6, 2009 - 20:58 by Lynn Truong
Back in January, I wrote a post about finding a new $10 "maintenance fee" for my Chase credit card -- the one I was never late on and had a transfer balance that guaranteed me a 3.99% APR for life. People were outraged, of course, but now Chase has had a change of heart.
Posted March 30, 2009 - 09:03 by Paul Michael
I know banks are hurting for money right now, but no more than the rest of us. And one aspect of modern banking that I find most disturbing is how banks allow you to go overdrawn so that they can charge you a hefty fee.
Posted March 24, 2009 - 17:27 by Xin Lu
This week the United States Treasury announced the Legacy Loans Program. The program is meant to be a partnership between the government and private investors to clear "toxic" assets off the books of banks. Some large financial firms have expressed that they may set up mutual funds to buy these assets. Could you possibly profit by buying these funds as an individual investor?
Posted January 20, 2009 - 01:56 by Philip Brewer
Any institution that wants to fund mortgages has a problem. They want to lend the money out for thirty years, but the money they have to lend comes from deposits that can be withdrawn by the depositors at any time. Banks have come up with three bad ways to work around that problem. It turns out, though, that the Danes have come up with what may be a good way.
Posted December 10, 2008 - 03:15 by Philip Brewer
It will not, I think, surprise my regular readers to hear that I like to read books about money. All kinds of books about money--not just books on personal finance and frugality, but just about anything, including monetary histories and stories of wealth. Dinkelspiel's new book hits those last two categories (besides being an engaging biography as well).
Posted September 30, 2008 - 13:15 by Philip Brewer
Anybody--but especially frugal people--can be excused for thinking that the whole credit crisis thing is being overblown. After all, we get along without debt. In fact, we strongly recommend that others do so as well. If getting along without debt is the way to go, why make such a big deal over a credit crunch?
Posted September 11, 2008 - 20:08 by Andrea Dickson
WaMu on the way out? Also, learn to control your ego as a means to control your spending. Bulk buying makes sense for people who plan ahead. There's no shame in bargaining - learn to do it right. What Consumer Reports gets wrong. Inner peace the easy way.
Posted July 31, 2008 - 13:31 by Julie Rains
It has occurred to me that tapping into one’s home equity can be like pawning a gold necklace, television set, or other personal item with resale value. Both involve using collateral, either to borrow thousands of dollars through a home equity loan or home equity line of credit aka HELOC – or to borrow $50 for a very short period of time. I think it is interesting to compare and contrast these two types of loans.
Posted July 8, 2008 - 12:46 by Xin Lu
Today the troubles of IndyMac bank was splashed in the headlines. Its stock has fallen to nearly $0 and depositors are making a run at closing their accounts. IndyMac has been consistently been paying one of the highest CD interest rates in the nation, and it is a prime example of a financially weak bank that offers high rates to attract new deposits.
Posted November 30, 2007 - 13:15 by Philip Brewer
It has never been unusual for borrowers to run into difficulty, and sometimes it becomes clear that a loan will never be repaid in full. The lender's job then is to recover as much money as possible. Because foreclosures are expensive and the eventual recovery is uncertain, it's often a better bet for the lender to restructure the loan--settling for less than they are owed, but more than they'd get in a foreclosure. One of things that has made the subprime debacle go from bad to worse is that loan workout is much tougher when loans are securitized--sold, packaged, diced up, and sold again.
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