Here’s the official word from the FTC: The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months....
Baby Boomers: Economic Boom or Bust?
It’s estimated that nationwide a thousand or more members of the post World War II baby boom turn 65 each year. And since the Baby Boom “generation” is typically calculated as 19 years – spanning the nearly two decades between 1946 and 1964 – financial experts and...
Foreclosures: A Ripple Effect?
The repeated waves of housing foreclosures that followed the housing collapse of 2008 – and which are still trickling onto the market – have an economic impact far beyond the immediate consequences for the homeowners affected. From whole neighborhoods and the people...
Defense Cuts: What Do They Mean for Investors?
A major concern in the recent wrangling over the budget deal dubbed the "fiscal cliff” was cuts in the defense budget – cuts that would have affected not just military personnel, but thousands of civilian employees, contractors and the areas in which they live and...
Do Mortgage Lenders Profit from Low Interest Rates?
Since the mortgage meltdown of a few years ago the mortgage industry has come under greater scrutiny, with settlements and promises to clean up fraudulent practices. But amid indications that major lenders have reformed and mortgage applications are picking up again...
Mortgage Fraud: A New Face on an Old Problem
Mortgage fraud is one of the fastest growing financial crimes in the history of the United States. Although the robosigning scandal that followed the housing collapse of 2008-2011 was blatant enough to bring the illegal and abusive practices of major mortgage lenders...
It’s Time to Choose Your Social Class
Opportunity within a great nation doesn’t disappear all at once but rather dwindles away slowly and then it’s gone. As the gap between the haves, have-a-littles, and have-nots becomes ever greater, it’s imperative for citizens to realize right now that the asset and...
Capital Gains: New Rates, Old Solutions
Among the tax changes accompanying the recent budget deal struck by both parties, increases in the capital gains tax structure have sent higher-bracket investors rushing to find solutions. While the new taxation rates apply to investments of all kinds, real estate...
The Medicare Tax: Not About Healthcare
A number of the new and amended tax laws that rang in the New Year as part of the last minute budget deal are tied to income, assessing new, or higher taxes on income and holdings of those whose earnings exceed a certain threshold. Although in general the new code has...
The New Deal: More Income, More Taxes
As expected, the last minute that rang in New Year 2013 avoided the dreaded fiscal cliff and its anticipated shortfall for defense and a number of other government sponsored programs. But the outcome raised taxes for the majority if Americans and created the $400,000...