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Here we present discussions of private or public funds, their management, and the financial system that serves them. And, as with mostother topics, we want to know the impact of politics across state and global markets.
If you’re one of President Obama’s fifteen million Twitter followers, you may have seen his #dontdoublemyrates tweets lately. The controversy stems from the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007, which, among other things, reduced the fixed interest rates on newly originated subsidized Stafford loans for undergraduate students only, from 6.8% in 2007 down a sliding scale until they hit 3.4% in the 2011-2012 school year.… [Read more]
This is part four of a four-part series on aligning your personal finances with your values. Find parts one, two, and three here.
The final step in aligning your personal finances with your life values? Follow through, and follow up.
Follow through. Last week you set some very specific goals. Make them happen. Then set more goals.… [Read more]
With all the actions taken against Bank of America last week to expose their funding of mountaintop removal mining and foreclosures, and Occupy Wall Street and other organizations such as MoveOn.org and the Huffington Post encouraging people to move their money out of big banks and into credit unions, I thought that I would share some information about what credit unions are, what they do, and some of my experiences as a member of one.… [Read more]
This is part three of a four-part series on aligning your personal finances with your values. Find parts one and two here.
Okay, now we get to the fun stuff. And by “fun”, I mean “the part where you actually have to face your realities and how that may or may not be in line with what you think.” Don’t be afraid; I’m here to hold your hand, and I promise I’ve heard it all before.… [Read more]
This is part two of a four-part series on aligning your personal finances with your values. Click here for part one.
Last week we talked about the first step in aligning your personal finances with your values, which was identifying your life values in the first place. If you don’t know what you want to accomplish, you won’t be able to make your money work for you.… [Read more]
This is part one of a four-part series on aligning your personal finances with your values.
There are a million resources out there for managing personal finances — everything from debt-free living to investing wisely to balancing your checkbooks. This series is not going to be about that. It’s going to be about how to align your personal finances with the rest of your life.… [Read more]
One of the most common questions I get asked as a CPA who deals with taxes on a regular basis is “how can I be sure I don’t have to pay at the end of the year?” Although I am the kind of person who tries to make my tax burden to the government as close to $0 as possible, I understand the thrill of the refund… found money, so to speak.… [Read more]
*Editor’s Note: We believe that this article, written by Ryan C. Mack* is fitting in honour of Black History Month. Effective education and economic empowerment have been described by some as the last Civil Rights frontiers.
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The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Expenditure Survey in the year of 2008 calculated the average annual contribution of Black households to religious organizations was $683. … [Read more]
Millions of people spend years planning for retirement. Many invested their income into stocks expecting investment returns of at least 8% and others expected their homes to have appreciated in value by 10% each year. Their expectations have been shaken to the core during this recession and long periods of economic uncertainty.
Because a large portion of people nearing retirement are not going to have as much to retire on as they initially thought, many are facing some serious questions that must be answered: How much more will I have to save?… [Read more]
The Democrats have a platform that says they’re committed to making it easier for Americans to save for retirement on their own. What does the Republican platform say other than ‘SCREW YOU, YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN? Well, of course we all have to save on our own; many corporations kicked us to the curb ages ago when they decided that pension funds… Read more…
If you happen to have two hours to spare and feel like you want to spend that time being informed, amazed and maybe even appalled, watch ‘The Secret of Oz‘, winner of the 2010 best documentary award. Here’s the desciption from IMDB.com:
“What’s going on with the world’s economy? Foreclosures are everywhere, unemployment is skyrocketing – and this may only be the beginning.… [Read more]
According to government statistics, approximately seven million people in the U.S. are unemployed. For too many, that means scraping by on unemployment insurance.
Federal unemployment insurance is called an ‘entitlement’ program; some politicians who use the word entitlement convey the image of a class of people who feel entitled to receive funds without having done anything to earn it.… [Read more]
The word is out: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) settled with Citigroup for $285 million. In yet another case of fraud by a ‘too-big-to-fail’ bank, investors lost millions as the result of being misled — this time, about mortgage bonds. In the settlement, Citigroup doesn’t admit or deny the allegation that they behaved badly and/or did anything wrong by betting against the very mortgage securities they convinced their investors to buy.… [Read more]
