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One recent ad for a certificate of deposit actually made me stop in my tracks. What was the head-turning rate? It was a straight 1%. It is a sad commentary on a long string of low interest rates when anyone looks twice at 1%. Worse yet, I know that 1% is higher than the rates on CDs that I allowed to automatically roll over in recent months.
The closer we get to the grand rollout of the Ford lump-sum pension offer, the more obvious it is that Ford salaried retirees cannot simply copy what their brother, sister or best friend from Ford decides to do. Agree to grab a lump sum? Or just stick with the usual monthly pension check?
Chauny Barnes-Sailor quickly skips through the coupons rolling onto her smartphone. "They just continue to pop up," says Barnes-Sailor, a 24-year-old part-time student. "Here's Pier One. Neiman-Marcus. Guess. Express. Oh, I love Express. Pizza Hut."
Many municipal pension funds in Michigan could be looking at a much deeper hole than many even realize now. That's the view of Fred J. Schaard, president of Rehmann Financial, a consultant who maintains that municipal pensions need to revamp retirement plans much like corporate employers were forced to do.
Is someone's age going to stop them from getting a top-notch credit score? Will whether you're married, divorced or single be figured into the calculation of a credit score? Does race influence the score?
Parents and students can ask questions about student loans, scholarships and financial aid from 11 a.m. to noon during a live chat.
Rhonda Brooks is a proud mom who totes around a quilt-style patchwork bag filled with National Honor Society letters, various print-outs detailing the cost of credit hours at different schools, and some college financial awards letters sent to her son Jacob, her only child.
Want to uncover the secrets for fixing a bad credit score? OK. But before you make any move, stop and ask how much is this miracle cure going to cost me? Should you really be spending $800, $900 or $1,000 on an education plan to clue you into credit-repair fixes? How could that add 100 points to your score anyway?
Feeling like you're drowning in credit card debt, student loans and medical bills? If you are, you're likely not alone -- and that could explain why everywhere you turn you hear ads offering some quick-fix deal to cope with debt.
Credit scores turned into one ugly number for many consumers throughout the recession -- putting a halt to how much buying and borrowing consumers could do. So it's pretty upbeat news to hear that more consumers are edging near perfect FICO scores.
When it comes to pesky fees, many of us can rattle off a list of maddening debit card fees, ATM fees, baggage check fees and others.
Robert Shiller -- a Yale University economist who made his mark predicting the two big bubbles in stocks and housing -- isn't terribly surprised that many people aren't convinced that the U.S. economic recovery will stick.
About 90,000 salaried retirees and former employees from Ford will soon decide whether they want to get a pension check each month or grab a bundle of money and go.
One trillion dollars. If you're a parent or a student, dwell on that number like it's one of the worst report cards ever. Student loan debt has hit $1 trillion, and it's bigger than credit card debt and auto-loan debt.
When some appraisers are valuing homes at even less than it would cost to replace the house itself in metro Detroit, many would have to wonder what gives. Haven't we hit bottom?
When it comes to managing money, the to-do list quickly turns into a big don't -- as in I-don't-have-any-time-to-do-this stuff.
If you've been putting off filing your tax return, you're running out of time. Today is the deadline for federal and Michigan returns. But there are ways to get the job done. "We have lots of options for preparing, filing and paying if you owe," said Luis D. Garcia, a spokesperson for the Internal Revenue Service in Detroit.
The complex tax code doesn't just create unsettling questions for taxpayers who desperately want to file an accurate return. That vast valley of rules generates another unknown: How much exactly will I need to pay someone to do my taxes?
When it comes to the ABCs of tax credits relating to children, watch out for quirky rules. The child tax credit, for example, is worth up to $1,000 per qualifying child younger than 17. But if you don't owe enough in taxes to actually qualify, there are other rules that can give some parents a break.
The joy of going out and spending a tax refund could be short-lived if you owe past taxes. The Internal Revenue Service is warning taxpayers that the U.S. Department of Treasury's Financial Management Service, which issues federal tax refunds, can use part or all of your federal tax refund to cover specific unpaid debts.
During tax season, I have received a string of e-mails from people who want to close the book on their losses and get a tax break on their old General Motors stock. I had written a column in late March that pointed out to many investors who had never sold their old GM stock that they could take those unclaimed losses on the 2011 federal income tax return.
Steve Schwartz -- whose family has adopted two daughters from China -- likes joking with his accountant that filling out tax forms is nothing.
Stocks are turning out to be a rip-roaring success story. Now, someone should shout April Fools, right? But so far the joke has been on investors -- and even Wall Street experts -- who didn't imagine that stocks would do so well in three short months.
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Mike Thompson
