Family Finance - FiLife

Identity Theft Horror Story: Checks Stolen from a Mailbox

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:47:02 -0500

Almost anyone could walk right up to most mailboxes in America and take the mail that's sitting inside. In Catherine Estergren's case, thieves walked off with a book of blank checks she had ordered from her bank.

Unfortunately, Catherine didn't realize the theft until she got a call from her bank telling her that her checking account was overdrawn. The thieves worked quickly by writing checks for more than $7,000 in five different states. After that, Catherine's mailbox became full of collection letters.

It has taken Estergren two years to get her finances back in order. Her credit was ruined from the incident, and the crisis may not be over yet. There are still blank checks out there that haven't been used. Even though the checking account is closed, collectors will still track her down using the information printed on those bad checks.

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Sell at a Loss or Hang On?

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:11:00 -0500

June Fletcher answers a reader's question about whether or not to sell and take a loss on an adjustable rate mortgage that will reset in 2010.

Q: In 2005, I bought my first home in Lowell, Mass. for $400,000. I borrowed $360,000 at 4.75% 5/1 ARM and did a down payment of remaining $40,000. I now owe the bank $328,000, but the value of my property has fallen down to $350,000, wiping out most of my equity.

I have moved to an apartment in Connecticut, and am renting out my Massachusetts house. The rent covers 80% of my monthly mortgage payment. I have an excellent credit rating and can easily afford the current payments. But I am concerned that my 5/1 ARM will reset in October of 2010 and my payments will increase. Does it make sense for me continue to own this property or should I sell it, take a loss and end the monthly mortgage payments?

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10 Reasons to Be Thankful You’re a Renter

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:30:51 -0500

In today’s tough economy, owning a house can be more American drama than American dream. When you’re sitting around the Thanksgiving table hearing people complain about foreclosures and decreasing property values, be glad you’re renting and save your wishbone for something else.

Here are 10 good reasons to enjoy being a renter:

1. No lawn to mow.Skip spending your weekends with the mower or paying someone else to do it for you.

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Protecting Your Money Ahead of a Pink Slip

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:11:00 -0500

Brett Arends offers advice for protecting your money, your home and your retirement funds before an impending layoff.

The unemployment figures aren't as bad as they look. They're worse.

It isn't just that the headline jobless rate topped 10%. Go behind the figures and you'll find that 16.3% of the workforce, or one person in six, is either unemployed completely or working part-time. And the numbers of long-term unemployed are staggering: more than a third of unemployed Americans, 5.6 million people, have been out of a job for more than 27 weeks, according to the federal government. And the employment picture isn't expected to improve significantly until mid-2010.

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October Jobless Rate Tops 10%

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:11:00 -0500

WASHINGTON -- U.S. unemployment rose by more than expected in October to hit its highest level in more than 26 years and employers cut more jobs than forecast, a sign the labor market continues to struggle as the economy emerges from its deep recession.

The unemployment rate, calculated using a survey of households as opposed to companies, rose by 0.4 percentage point to 10.2%, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast an increase to 9.9%.

Nonfarm payrolls fell by 190,000 last month, with the largest job losses in construction, manufacturing, and retail trade. Economists had expected a 175,000 decrease.

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When Age is an Issue in the Job Hunt

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:11:00 -0500

Toddi Gutner answers a reader's question about job hunting when negative perceptions of age may be in play.

Q: I am looking for a full-time job that uses my writing, people and information-gathering talents from 25 years as a Los Angeles Times staff writer. My concern, validated by the coach at the retraining corporation, is that I am over 40. That coach actually told me to leave the dates of college attendance, etc., off my resume. My brother, president of a publicly-traded company, said this advice was nonsense, although he did say age is an issue (and he's older than I am).

Can you address this issue of inferiority complex for those of us competing with candidates 20 years our junior? How do we address it? How can we compensate for the potential perception that we are burn-outs or tired when we might--in my case--just be bored by because we know the job so well?

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Owners become renters in bid to avoid foreclosures

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:11:00 -0500

Fannie Mae announced a new program that will allow struggling home owners to hold on to their homes as renters.

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Qualifying homeowners facing foreclosure will be able to stay in their homes -- as renters -- under a new program announced by Fannie Mae on Thursday.

The Deed for Lease Program is designed to help borrowers who aren't eligible or haven't been able to sustain other work-out solutions, including a modification, according to a news release.

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Commercial real estate yet to hit bottom

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:11:00 -0500

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Commercial real estate vacancies will continue to rise and rents will continue to decrease across all property sectors before markets hit bottom, probably sometime in the middle of 2010, according to a report released Thursday by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Urban Land Institute.

"It's pretty grim, the worst decline since the Great Depression," said Stephen Blank, ULI senior resident fellow for real estate finance. "As one participant in the report said, getting through 2010 will be a test of who can survive."

"We're looking at a sober year for 2010 and probably not much different for 2011. It all depends on the economy and the consumer and unfortunately we don't see much of a resurgence," said Jonathan Miller, author of the report, Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2010. Unlike in previous real estate recessions, oversupply is not the problem. Blank said the development pipeline of new projects is at its lowest point in the 31-year history of the Emerging Trends in Real Estate report. The report is based on more than 900 interviews with leading real estate developers, lenders, investors, brokers and property managers.

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For Money Funds, Wait Till Next Year

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:11:00 -0500

After months of subsisting on close-to-zero yields and watching assets bleed away, money-market mutual funds may have reason to hope that a little relief isn't far off.

Many economists are predicting a Federal Reserve rate increase in 2010, and the central bank is considering how to take cash out of circulation. In addition, government support programs for the funds and the assets that they buy, put in place after the Reserve Primary Fund dipped below its $1 net asset value and sparked panic in the industry, are starting to unwind.

That combination may bring slightly higher yields, which would be a welcome break for fund companies that have been waiving fees on their funds to maintain investors.

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Retirement tools often underestimate risk

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:11:00 -0500

Many investors had to learn the hard way in 2008 that retirement tools underestimated the risk in their portfolios.

BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- When it comes to retirement planning, it's important to measure risk. But it's just as important not to mismeasure it. Unfortunately, that's what most Americans and financial-services firms do today. They tend to focus on the probability of risk and less, if at all, on the magnitude of the risk. The net result is that many retirees and retirement savers now have investment portfolios that are far too aggressive.

Or so says Richard Fullmer of Russell Investments, author of a just-published white paper "Mismeasurement of Risk in Financial Planning."

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