Hot Finance Tips

Filed under: Budgets, Insurance, Health, Relationships

Dentistry appears to be one profession that the recession might not bite. The 17 % average profit margin of dentists’ offices was higher than that of any other industry in 2008, according to Sageworks, which uses data from 9,000 CPA firms across the country. Aside from tooth grinding and other nervous habits that bring folks to the dentist, insurance issues appear to be driving the profits.

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Filed under: Borrowing, Budgets, Cards, Debt, Ripoffs and Scams, Saving

I never read the notices from my credit card company. If it’s not a bill — I dump it in the garbage. Fortunately, one of my friends alerted me to a interest rate increase from Chase, CitiBank and a few other companies that is slipping under the radar. They have sent notices to all their customers that the APR is increasing dramatically — in some cases as high as 24%. Sure enough, I checked my bill this month and I was up to 24%. Now, I have never missed a payment, have never been late, and have had the card for years.

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Filed under: College, Recession

Job insecurity and tanking retirement portfolios and 529 Plans have some families rethinking their college applications strategies.

Bloomberg reports that applications are down at seven of the eight highest-rated liberal arts colleges in the country. Williams College was the hardest hit with an astounding decline of 20% in applicants. Swarthmore fell by 10%, Middlebury was down 12%, Amherst College 1%, Carleton College 3%, Bowdoin 1.6%, and Pomona 2.2%. Wellesley reported a 2% increase.

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Filed under: Borrowing, Debt, Home, Bankruptcy

Many people with homes underwater (when the market value is less than the amount due on the mortgage) are either walking away from their homes and letting them go to foreclosure or working out a short sale with the bank. A short sale is getting the bank to accept less than the principal due to release you from your mortgage obligation.

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Filed under: Borrowing, Cards, Debt, Home

I’ve been foretelling the coming credit card crunch for as long as the mortgage crunch has been around. It’s just obvious: The whole mortgage mess was assisted immensely as consumers rolled their credit cards into their home equity, paying for trips to Vegas and wide screen TVs with the growing equity in their home. Once the refinance was complete, do you think Americans stopped spending, chastened by their larger mortgage payment and the weight of their consumerism on their personal balance sheet? What do you think? I know for a fact that people just don’t change like that, and in fact barely escaped falling into the trap myself as my husband was wooed by a mortgage broker with dollar signs in her eyes. (I resisted the siren song of more credit availability, barely.)

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Filed under: Real Estate, Retire, Recession

I recently wrote about the new average home price in Detroit: a whopping $6,035. I’m skeptical about it being a good investment because of the city’s soaring vacancy rates and abysmal long-term outlook. But then I thought about it some more and had an idea: Detroit could be the new Florida.

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Filed under: College, Recession

The soaring unemployment rate has a lot of people feeling dejected and miserable, but the Springfield Republican reports that some displaced workers are looking at the recession as an opportunity to pursue educational opportunities, and position themselves to earn more money when things get better — and have a better shot at landing a job it it doesn’t.

One worker interviewed for the piece was laid off from Home Depot on a Monday — and enrolled in classes at Holyoke Community College by Tuesday.

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Filed under: College, Cards, Debt, Kids and Money, Fantastic Freebies

For many people, financial education is something that isn’t sought until after they have learned some lessons the hard way. With the increased importance of credit and the length bad credit decisions can affect your life, it’s no wonder that many states are pushing for financial education in our schools.

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Filed under: College, Cards, Debt, Kids and Money, Fantastic Freebies

For many people, financial education is something that isn’t sought until after they have learned some lessons the hard way. With the increased importance of credit and the length bad credit decisions can affect your life, it’s no wonder that many states are pushing for financial education in our schools.

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Filed under: College, Recession

Cornell University’s endowment tanked 27% in the final six months of 2008 and, if the broader market’s performance is any indication, likely took a similarly severe beating in just the first two months of 2009.

The school is responding with aggressive spending cuts and a bond offering. Cornell says that it will cut endowment spending by 15% effective July 1st, and implement more server cuts in 2011 and 2012.

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