Archive for 2009

Mortgage borrowers are offered help in several ways.  They may have their rates lowered, balances reduced, be given grace periods or longer repayment schedules.  But, surprisingly a number of homeowners who do get their payments reduced fall behind within a year.

This is one of the biggest challenges in the foreclosure crisis.  With a weak economy employers may continue to cut jobs or salaries, thus increasing the challenge of a mortgage that has been modified. 

More on this story – MSNBC.com

The government has expanded a program to help the unemployed buy health insurance.  But, millions of people are not able to access the aid because of the programs design.

As a part of the economic stimulus plan, $25 billion was allocated to pay 65% of health-insurance premiums for workers laid off in 2009.  Congress has extended the program for people laid off through February 2010.  Because it is tied to the narrow parameters of Cobra, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, the program is not available to many people ...

Families are struggling to cover the cost of a higher education with job layoffs, shrinking college funds, and fewer private loans available.  There may be more help availble.

Many families are requesting reviews of their financial-aid packages to make sure they truely reflect their current financial situation.  This allows families to have their expected contributions recalculated.  Typically awards are based on prior year household income and this allows the family to have their current income reviewed.

This allows the school to re-evaluate students’ financial-aid packages, which could qualifying them ...

Thursday morning The Senate passed a $871 billion health care reform bill.  This gives President Barack Obama a Christmas victory on his top domestic priority.  After months of heated debate all members of the Senate ended up voting their party line. 

This bill would constitute the largest expansion of federal health care since Medicare and Medicaid over four decades ago.  It would extend insurance coverage to over 30 million additional Americans.  “We are now finally poised to deliver on the promise of real, meaningful health-insurance reform that will bring ...

CNNMoney.com reported that Citadel Broadcasting Co., the third-largest radio group in the United States, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Sunday.

Citadel has broadcasting stations in 25 states.  It has been know for some time that the company has a great deal of debt and may be headed for bankruptcy.  They have filed in the Southern District of New York.

The same economic pressures that pushed California to the brink is causing stress in other states as well.
The 10 most troubled states are: Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.
The list is based on several factors, including the loss of state revenue, size of budget gaps, unemployment and foreclosure rates, poor money management practices, and state laws governing the passage of budgets.
Read more at CNN Money.

Charter Communications Inc. said Monday that its loss widened in the third quarter but that it expects to emerge from bankruptcy soon. The nation’s fourth-largest cable provider lost $1 billion in the three months ended Sept. 30.
Charter continues to recieve financial pressure from the recent economic downturn along with increased competition. Charter determined that its projected future growth would be lower than previously anticipated.
More on this story at St. Louis Business Journal.

The Wall Street Journal shows unemployment figures aren’t as bad as they look. They’re worse. It isn’t just that the headline jobless rate topped 10%. Behind these figures 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 ...