Friday’s need-to-know money news

IRS 1040 Tax Form Being Filled OutToday’s top story: How to choose between increasing your savings or paying down debt. Also in the news: What financial risks Boomers need to consider, how to file your taxes for free, and what recourse you have if a credit report error has hurt your score.

Should You Increase Savings First Or Pay Down Debt?
Making the smart decision.

Financial Risks Boomers Should Consider in Retirement
How to avoid retirement landmines.

Here’s How to File Your Taxes for Free
Save your filing fees.

Can I Sue If a Credit Report Error Hurt My Score?
Examining your options.

Can I Take Advantage of the Student Loan Interest Tax Deduction?
How your loan payments could actually save you money.

Thursday’s need-to-know money news

Zemanta Related Posts ThumbnailToday’s top story: Why military families are at an increased risk of identity theft. Also in the news: What Millennials can teach Boomers about financial planning, the most important thing on your credit report, and how to leap over savings hurdles.

Military Families Remain Easy Prey for ID Theft
Military families have their information stolen at twice the rate of regular consumers.

What Gen Y Can Teach Boomers About Financial Planning
Millennials are more financially conscientious than one might think.

The Most Important Thing on Your Credit Report
It’s all about payment history.

5 Huge Hurdles to Saving and How to Avoid Them
Every little bit helps.

5 tips for saving at the grocery store
Whatever you do, don’t go to the grocery store hungry.

Erasing student loans in bankruptcy court

Help at financial crisisEducation debt typically isn’t erased in bankruptcy court. That doesn’t mean it can’t be.

Ask Michael Hedlund, an Oregon law school graduate who repeatedly failed the bar and then went to work as a juvenile counselor. A federal appeals court decided he didn’t have to pay $53,000 of the $85,000 in student loans he still owed.

Or Janet Rose Roth of Nevada, who was freed from over $95,000 in federal student loans even though she was employed for most of the time she owed the money and never made voluntary payments on the debt.

Or Carol Todd, who dropped out of the University of Baltimore School of Law and was allowed to erase nearly $340,000 in education debt. A bankruptcy judge ruled her Asperger’s syndrome made it impossible for her to hold a job that would allow her to repay the loans.

These three court decisions, all made within the past two years, challenge many misconceptions about who can and can’t get relief in bankruptcy court.

The cases have something else in common: the debtors didn’t, or couldn’t, pay for help. Roth represented herself in court while law firms represented Hedlund and Todd in their appeals pro bono, or without a fee.

My Reuters column this week (“Bankrupt? How to get student loans erased“) discusses how few borrowers actually try to get their loans discharged in bankruptcy, and whether cost is a factor. You can read it here, and get all my Reuters columns here.

Wednesday’s need-to-know money news

Zemanta Related Posts ThumbnailToday’s top story: Where to save for retirement if you make less than $100,000. Also in the news: Financial therapy, the least prepared states for retirement, and a guide to refinancing your mortgage.

Don’t Wait For Obama’s MyRA: The Best Places To Save For Retirement If You Make Less Than Six Figures
The best time to start saving is now.

Do You Need Financial Therapy?
You don’t need to deal with money problems alone.

Retirement readiness looks grim in many states
Wake up, South Carolina!!

Four-Step Guide to Refinancing Your Home Mortgage
Lower interest rates could save you money.

Money-saving tips for seniors
Easy ways to keep some extra money in your wallet.

Tuesday’s need-to-know money news

Zemanta Related Posts ThumbnailToday’s top story: How to avoid medical identity theft while at the doctor’s office. Also in the news: What you need to do with your 401(k), ways to save on child care, and nine jobs with the biggest earning potential.

4 Things Your Doctor Doesn’t Need to Know
Avoiding medical identity theft.

No plan for your 401(k)? You’re not alone
Just having a 401(k) plan isn’t enough.

6 ways to cut child care costs
Without sacrificing quality!

9 Jobs With the Biggest Earning Potential
You probably shouldn’t rely on the second one.

7 Steps To A Secure Retirement For Women
Preparing and securing the future.

Monday’s need-to-know money news

download (1)Today’s top story: Should you splurge or save with your tax refund? Also in the news: Saving for the end of the world, understanding Obamacare tax penalties, and why free checking is becoming a thing of the past.

Tax refunds: Cheap thrills or savvy savings?
Choose wisely.

End-of-world money moves to make
Why should the zombies get your money?

Obamacare Tax Penalties: Will You Have to Pay?
Understanding the new insurance penalties.

Free checking disappearing at the big banks
Free checking is going the way of free toasters.

Will Opening Credit Cards Help My Credit
Possibly. But proceed with caution.

Friday’s need-to-know money news

IRS 1040 Tax Form Being Filled OutToday’s top story: Choosing between the standard or itemized tax deduction. Also in the news: Taking steps to a better financial future, money mistakes to avoid during your 20s, and the four letter word that can ruin your credit.

Should You Take the Standard or Itemized Tax Deduction?
While one might be easier, the other could save you more money.

7 Steps To A Better Financial Future
Begin with the end in mind.

Money Mistakes to Avoid in Your 20s
Don’t makes mistakes in your 20s that you’ll be paying for in your 40s and 50s.

The 4-Letter Word That Can Ruin Your Credit
Take a guess.

3 Ill-Advised Reasons Not to Buy Life Insurance
You’re not getting any younger.

Should your credit card issuer have to give you free credit scores?

Zemanta Related Posts ThumbnailThe Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today called on major credit card issuers to provide free scores to their customers on their statements or online. The regulator’s idea is that low scores could tip people off to problems in their credit reports–problems they might not otherwise find, since too few people get their free credit reports each year.

Creditors use a variety of scores to evaluate and monitor their customers–scores that measure everything from the likelihood of default to the likelihood the user will stop using the card. It’s the score that measures the likelihood of default that the regulators want customers to see.

I believe you should be able to see any score that’s used to evaluate you, and that you shouldn’t have to pay for it. Getting scores from your credit card company could be a good start, assuming the companies aren’t allowed to sub in some “FAKO” score that no one actually uses.

The problem comes in the execution. Seeing their scores is likely to make a lot of people upset, and not just the folks with low scores. People with high scores usually want to know why their scores aren’t even higher. Credit card companies may not want to mess with having to explain how scores work or take the heat for a process they don’t control. (Credit scoring formulas are created by other companies, like FICO-creators Fair Isaac, and applied to data held by the credit bureaus.)

We’ll have to stay tuned to see if any major issuers bite. In the meantime, you can get free scores from sites like Credit.com and Credit Karma, although they aren’t the FICO scores most lenders use. For those, you’ll need to go to MyFico.com and pay.

Thursday’s need-to-know money news

Zemanta Related Posts ThumbnailToday’s top story: How to protect yourself during online transactions. Also in the news: Finding financial help when you’re not wealthy, saving money at the gas pump, and how to tell if your financial dreams are based in reality.

4 Tips for Secure Online Transactions
Protecting yourself while shopping online.

How to Find a Financial Advisor If You’re Not Rich
You don’t need to be loaded in order to get advice.

3 Secrets to Saving Money at the Pump
Following these tips could save you almost $500 a year.

Financial Goals: How To Tell If Yours Are Truly Realistic
Keeping your head out of the clouds.

Wednesday’s need-to-know money news

images (2)Today’s top story: What to do when you’re retired and running low on cash. Also in the news: Starting a financial cleanse, what to do if your company switches retirement funds, and the five worst personal finance mistakes.

7 Suggestions for Retirees Running Low on Money
Getting the most from your retirement nest egg no matter how small.

5 Financial Cleanses to Break Bad Money Habits
Like a juice cleanse, but with money. And food.

Understanding How Employers May Change Your Retirement Fund
What to do if your company moves away from traditional 401(k) plans.

Top 5 Worst Personal Finance Mistakes
Mistakes you REALLY don’t want to make.

Are You Thinking About Starting A Business In Retirement?
Retirement isn’t just for golfing anymore.