Filed under: Borrowing, Credit, Debt, Bankruptcy, 101 credit&debt, In the News
Debtors prisons were federally abolished in the United States in the 1800’s, yet in certain states, they seem to be making a comeback. Out of Minnesota come disturbing reports of Americans being thrown in jail due to outstanding bills — sometimes for as little as $85. The Star-Tribune of Minneapolis profiles a number of people who say their debts got them jailed, including Joy Uhlmeyer a 57-year-old patient care advocate who was pulled over on her way home from visiting her elderly mother and put in jail for a night for missing a court hearing about unpaid debt.
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Filed under: Banks, Career, Recession
The unemployment rate remains stubbornly above 9 percent, but certain sectors hit hard by the recession are making a surprise come back. Finance is one, according to Paul Webster, a director of the front office banking area for top recruiting firm
Michael Page International. Wall Street, especially the big banks, is
once again opening its checkbook for talent. Webster, a recruiter with 10 years of experience in the U.K. and the U.S., shares some tips on where the jobs are and how to get them.
Where are the finance jobs today?
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Filed under: Insurance, Health, Insurance – Health Insurance
Most people rush to schedule as many medical tests as possible just before their COBRA coverage runs out. But some experts now say that’s precisely the wrong thing to do when you’re shopping for post-COBRA health insurance. The problem with those medical tests is that they just might find something — and if that something requires treatment or even the potential for treatment, that can make you undesirable to most insurers.
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Filed under: Banks, In the News
A tweet can land you in jail in Venezuela.
Two people were arrested Thursday for allegedly spreading false rumors on Twitter designed to destabilize Venezuela’s banking system. It’s against the law in that Latin American country to spread false rumors about the banking systems on any social network.
“Anybody who spreads malicious rumors by any means, emails, SMS messages on cellphones, Twitter, Facebook … or any other means of communication is committing a crime and should answer for it before the competent authorities,” national investigative police unit head Wilmer Flores Trosel said in a statement to Reuters.
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Filed under: Debt, Credit Cards, Personal Loans
America, give yourself a pat on the back. According to new data from the American Bankers Association, more of us are paying our credit cards and home equity loans on time — which is good news in a still shaky economy. Bank card delinquencies dropped from 4.39% in the last quarter of 2009 to 3.88% in the first quarter of this year. This rate is actually below the 15-year average for bank-card delinquencies, and is the lowest rate since 2002. (The ABA regards a delinquency as a payment more than 30 days overdue.)
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Filed under: Credit, Debt, Real Estate, Mortgages
There is one surefire way to reinvigorate the housing industry and it’s such a simple solution that regulators should be embarrassed they have to be reading about it here: Re-institute the liar loan.
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Filed under: Insurance, Consumer Ally, Insurance – Car Insurance, Insurance – Home Insurance
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has ordered Traveler’s Insurance to stop airing what it considers to be a deceptive ad or face legal action.
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Filed under: Family Money, Retire
For older Americans surveyed by Allianz Life Insurance Co., death is not such a big deal. Not, that is, when it compares to the spectre of a dwindling bank account. In a poll of people between the ages of 44 and 75, 61% said that running out money was their biggest fear. The remaining 39% thought death was scarier.
With a couple of banking crises under our belts, we’ve become almost entirely focused on the monetary aspect of advanced age. The context is important. The poll of 3,257 people, released last month, found that a whopping 92% of respondents agreed that “the United States is facing a crisis in its retirement system,” the AARP wrote about the report. (Continue the story…)
Filed under: Banks, Identity Theft, Consumer Ally
A couple of weeks ago, Chinese police arrested a man who installed a fake ATM in Beijing that managed to steal the account information of unsuspecting customers — information that was later used to empty their bank accounts.
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Filed under: Banks, Technology
Smile! Chase updated its iPhone app this week to let users deposit checks with the built-in camera.
This functionality is similar to what USAA rolled out last year.
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