The Latest Debt & Finance Blog

Students Graduating College

Can a College Degree Buy You a Better Future?

By Katherine Pilnick | January 15, 2013

Is college worth it? This is the question countless high schoolers ask themselves each year — especially as they apply to college this time of year — and the answer…

Payroll tax hike affects everyone

Payroll Tax Hike Could Throw Economy into Reverse

By Bill Fay | January 14, 2013

The government is taking a bigger bite of American workers’ paychecks this year, which could mean another slowdown of the U.S. economy. American workers are paying 2 percentage points more…

New mortgage rules

New Lending Rules Protect Consumers from Predatory Lenders and from Themselves

By Bill Fay | January 14, 2013

It may be too late for a pound of cure, but half a dozen years after the bursting of the housing bubble helped precipitate the Great Recession, the U.S. Consumer…

New mortgage rules protect consumers

New Rules Protect Consumers from Overzealous Mortgage Lenders

By Bill Fay | January 11, 2013

A new federal regulation puts the onus on lenders to take meaningful steps to ensure a person can afford a home loan, before they actually give them one. The “ability-to-repay”…

Tax refunds delayed

Delay in Tax Filing Season Means Later Refunds for Many

By Bill Fay | January 9, 2013

Millions of taxpayers banking on refunds from the IRS will have to wait a little longer to get them this year. The last-minute passage of the American Taxpayer Relief Act…

Bank of America settlement

Bank of America to Pay $10B to Fannie Mae to Settle Claims

By Bill Fay | January 7, 2013

The first week of 2013 has not been a happy new year for some of the nation’s largest banks, particularly Bank of America. On Monday, Bank of America agreed to…

Unemployment numbers steady

Positive News on Unemployment and Minimum Wage Laws

By Bill Fay | January 4, 2013

Workers starving for good news got a few morsels this week with positive reports on unemployment and pay. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says December’s unemployment rate was 7.8 percent,…

wind farm

Shifting Winds Bolster the Wind Industry

By Bill Fay | January 4, 2013

Here on the landless side of the fiscal cliff, there’s nothing but the wind. And as every parachutist and cliff diver knows, the wind can be tricky and unpredictable. Just…

wall street reacton fiscal cliff

American Investors among Winners in Fiscal Cliff Deal

By Bill Fay | January 2, 2013

Parties all over the world found reasons to celebrate the legislation that helped America avert the fiscal cliff. The bill, passed by the Senate in the early morning hours of…

Hedge fund

The Noose Is Tightening around Necks of Hedge Fund Execs

By Bill Fay | January 2, 2013

Ever wonder how some of the country’s richest hedge fund managers succeed in making such huge fortunes on their stock market bets? How guys like Steven A. Cohen, founder of…