Tag: income property investing
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Social Media Missteps Can Hurt Credit
It’s an open secret that companies routinely Google job applicants and examine their social media profiles as part of the hiring process. But in a more regulated and cautious lending atmosphere, banks and other financial institutions are starting to look at the social media activity of loan applicants to determine creditworthiness for mortgages and other…
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Top 5 Trending Topics of 2013
This New Year sets the stage for a financial world that’s very different in some ways than any we’ve seen before. From the decline of the dollar to the rise of the Bitcoin and other digital currencies and the state of the stimulus, the trends of 2013 paved the way for changes that affect all…
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Lending Industry Cleanup Means New Rules
The New Year brings big changes to the US loan business, as lawsuits and legislation continue to force a cleanup of the institutions that were in large part responsible for the housing collapse of a few years ago. And as those changes, aimed at protecting the consumers whose purchases keep the economy humming, take effect…
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New 2014 Lending Standards May Chill Borrowing
symptoms of diabetes p>What a difference two percentage points can make. A new provision of the sweeping Dodd Frank act that’s scheduled to take effect this January drops the allowable debt to income ratio for mortgages and other kinds of consumer loans from 45 percent to 43 – a small change with the power to…
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Target’s Account Hack highlights Weak Card Security Systems
Even if you aren’t one of the 40 million debit and credit card holders burned by the recent hack into the databanks of giant retailer Target, you may still be at risk for having your account information hijacked, thanks to weaknesses in the way credit card data is captured at the point of sale. Target’s…
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The Ven: A New Challenge to Mainstream Money?
While the Bitcoin keeps on making headlines with its inroads into traditional money markets, other kinds of digital monies are quietly following in the Bitcoin’s cyberfootsteps, proving that virtually any culture in the world can create its own functional currency system. The Ven, an eco-friendly digital currency, demonstrates how easy it is to challenge traditional…
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Financial Gifts Keep Giving for a Lifetime
Only fourteen states require a high school course in personal finance, says the Council for Economic Education – and just 22 require one in economics. That means the majority of young Americans are completely unprepared to enter a complex financial world filled with difficult decisions. So this holiday season, a finance-focused gift may be the…
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World Markets Watch the Fed’s Decision
World confidence in the US dollar continues to wobble. As the euro surged to the top of the currency markets in early December 2013, the dollar sagged, as investors look to current economic indicators for clues about what the Federal Reserve plans to do about its massive stimulus program. The euro and the dollar, linked…
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3 Costly Investing Mistakes
The road to financial success is paved with information – too much information. Would be investors – and anyone hoping to sustain – and build – assets are bombarded with options,, both legitimate and shady. And all too often, they end up losing a little or a lot, thanks to some basic mistakes that create…
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Can Floating Cities Change the World?
The future may be all at sea, if the folks at the Floating City Project make their vision a reality. And that reality is coming ever closer as crowdfunding for the design of the world’s first seasteading community gathers steam. It’s a concept that challenges many long-cherished beliefs about land, community and government that may…