Triaging your debt during a money crunch
Steps to stabilize your financial situation
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Are Accounts at a Bank Combined for FDIC Insurance?
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) guarantees that bank deposits up to $250,000 are safe. All of your single accounts at the same FDIC-insured bank are added together, and the total is insured for up to $250,000. For retirement savings accounts, the limit for FDIC insurance is also $250,000. All of your self-directed retirement savings accounts at the same insured bank are added together and the total is insured for up to $250,000.
This FDIC fact sheet explains the maximum …
What is the difference between bronze, silver, gold and platinum plans?
In order to be included in the Health Insurance Marketplace, each insurance company can offer four different types of “qualified” health insurance plans– Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum.
A Bronze Plan will cover 60% of health care costs with the consumer responsible for paying 40%. For Silver plans insurance companies pay 70% of costs and the consumer pays 30%. For Gold Plans, the split is 80%-20% and for Platinum the split is 90%-10%. In general, the more the company …
I have more expenses than income. There is no way for me to increase my income given my education and skill set, and my wife is now voluntarily working from home. What should we do? If I am laid off, what happens then?
There are only three sustainable ways to make ends meet: increase income, reduce expenses, or do a little of both. You might want to reach out to local social service agencies for financial assistance (if you qualify) or job training support. Resources such as these might provide additional income. Your wife might also need to seek paid employment or some type of income that she can earn by working at home. Issues related to finances can often be difficult to …
How can the economy affect a teenager’s life?
Poor economic conditions can provide both advantages and disadvantages for teenagers. On the plus side, there are many good sales at stores, which makes it easier to get good value for your money. The downside is that unemployment rates are high during economic downturns, which can make it difficult to get an after-school or summer job.
The economic downturn provides an opportunity for teenagers (adults too) to be creative and “think outside the box” when faced with daily challenges. Having …
What were some of the causes of the 2008-2009 economic crisis?
In a sentence, causes of the 2008-2009 economic crisis include subprime mortgages gone bad that were packaged into risky securities gone bad compounded by lax regulatory oversight, a credit crunch (i.e., reduced lending by financial institutions), and lack of consumer confidence. The financial crisis started to unfold in 2006-2007 when large numbers of homeowners started to fall behind on their monthly mortgage payments.
Many subprime mortgages with artificially low initial payments had been made to people who couldn’t really afford …
What steps were taken to address U.S. economic crisis issues after 2008?
Among the steps that were taken to address the post-2008 economic crisis were changes in regulations concerning how mortgage loans are originated and a number of economic stimulus efforts. These measures used government spending or tax incentives to support or revive an economy in recession.
Examples of elements of the stimulus efforts were government payments to large financial services firms (to stabilize at-risk businesses), tax credits to qualifying families, funding for capital improvement projects (such as bridges, roads, and the …
I am a single mom, don’t get child support, and have many bills to pay. I was turned in to a collections agency by a hospital. Financially, I am hurting and worried about feeding and housing my daughter. Please help me.
You have both immediate and longer-term situations to address. Short term, you have to put food on the table for you and your daughter and provide shelter and basic needs for both of you. You need income. A source of temporary short-term income can be programs for which you apply through the department of social services or other charitable organizations that offer food assistance, medical insurance, rental and energy assistance, and sometimes cash assistance. Contact your county department of social …
How Does Losing a Job Affect Your Income Taxes?
There are a number of ways that income taxes can be affected by the loss of a job. Below are descriptions of three common situations and information from the IRS about how they affect federal income taxes:
- You get a new job but earn less than you did before: If you had a high income previously, where certain tax deductions were limited, you may no longer be subject to income-based phase-outs. If your income was more moderate before and is
How are health and personal finances related?
Health and personal finances are related in many ways. Perhaps the simplest association is the high cost of unhealthy habits. Kick a $5-a-day smoking habit, for example, and you can save $1,825 annually. Invest this amount with an 8% annual return over 25 years and you’d accumulate more than $130,000. One study found that the typical nonsmokers’ net worth is roughly 50% higher than light smokers and roughly twice the level of heavy smokers.
With respect to another health problem, …