General Finance News

Unhappy Bank of America Corporation (BAC) customer Stephanie Frost, decided to do what an increasing number of unhappy customers are doing: to document their woes on Google Inc’s (GOOG) YouTube.

Frost explained in her first video in what will be a series that after she missed a credit card payment, Bank of America jacked her rates from 11% to 27%. In an effort to “stop doing business with companies that I feel are taking advantage of me, don’t appreciate my business, treat me poorly as a customer,” Frost decided to move her Bank of America accounts to a community bank.

The movement of her accounts was inspired by a video at Move Your Money, a mash-up of It’s a Wonderful Life footage with cable TV footage from the recent financial crisis.

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Summary: Refinancing Low-Balance Loan Not Worth Refinance Fees Make sure you calculate the costs of refinancing before trying to get a new loan. If you have a low balance loan, a lot of lenders won’t even let you refinance. And refinancing wouldn’t make any difference in your monthly payment, anyway. If you decide to refinance, make sure you understand the costs involved in refinancing, how long it will take you to pay off your loan, and what your monthly payments will be.

Refinancing Low-Balance Loan Not Worth Costs Of Refinancing

Q: I’m interested in refinancing my 7.9 percent home loan from 1993. My balance is $35,000. I have a HUD Nehemiah Grant of $15,000 attached which shows up as a 2nd mortgage.

The rider states the HUD grant is due in full if I refinance except for purpose other than “sale, equity or property transfer”.

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You need not worry if you do not have health insurance, as you can choose temporary insurance instead, which is an economical, short-term policy. It is very easy to purchase this policy. What’s more, it takes only a day to activate. This policy can be purchased for a period ranging between 20 days up to more than 170 days. The premium can be paid as a single payment or in monthly installments. These temporary insurance policies provide for coverage in case of a sickness or injury. The insured person can avail for treatment from any healthcare provider and the company will pay up for the bills of the healthcare. However, it does not cover against routine medical examinations. A long-term health insurance policy does cover these routine checkups. O

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Shareholders of News Corp. (NWS) are probably happy this Monday as two of the company’s films — Avatar and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel — did very well over the three-day holiday weekend.

James Cameron’s Avatar topped the charts at domestic theaters, pulling in an estimated $75 million, according to Box Office Mojo. If the project can continue to attract moviegoers in large droves, as well as propagate a lot of repeat business, then it should break even before it hits other distribution channels.

Of course, it’s almost impossible to determine the exact minimum that the highly expensive film needs to make since the general public is not privy to the structure of the deal backing the investment. But as I discussed previously, I would imagine that a worldwide gross of $900 million might be sufficient.

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Summary: $8000 First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit: Must Live in House To Qualify To qualify for the $8000 first-time home buyer tax credit, you must live in the house as your primary residence for at lease three years after buying the house. If you are buying an investment property, you will not qualify for the $8000 first-time home buyer tax credit or the $6500 repeat or trade-up buyer tax credit. Even if you plan on living in your home later, to qualify for the home buyer tax credits now, you must live in the house now.

$8000 First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit: Must Live in House To Qualify

Q: Do I qualify for the $8,000 credit for new home buyers if I don’t plan to live in the house until I retire? I plan to rent the home for four years until I retire.

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The recession “officially” ended in the third quarter with 3.5% GDP growth. Time to start celebrating, right? Not so fast.

Analyst and editor of Shadow Government Statistics, John Williams, wrote: “The estimate of 3.5% annualized real growth for third-quarter GDP included a 1.7% gain from auto sales, a 0.6% gain from new residential construction, and a 0.9% gain from a largely involuntary inventory buildup, which appears to be understated. … In aggregate, those one-time stimulus or inventory items represented 92% of the reported quarterly growth.”

What’s more, in November, the 3.5% Q3 GDP growth was revised down to 2.8%.

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Summary: Top Three Financial New Year’s Resolutions Make a New Year’s Resolution to clean up your personal finances. Stick to a budget, live within your means, and put away savings every month. Below are the top three financial new year’s resolutions. Make 2010 the year to stick to your financial new year’s resolutions.

Top Three Financial New Year’s Resolutions

Do your personal finances need a tweak this year?

After two years of recession and an unemployment rate that topped 10 percent in 2009, it seems as though a little personal finance rebuilding might be in order.

In last year’s list of New Year’s Resolutions, I said “the financial and emotional pain of this recession will be felt for a long time to come.” And that was before the stock market dipped into the 6000 level back in March.

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Several people in my close inner circle of friends and family have made the active choice to go into careers where they will be earning a low income for life. Their calling is in areas of social work and they’ve made the financially difficult choice to follow their heart. That earns a lot of respect from me.

Of course, when you step back from that decision and look at the course of one’s life, many normal financial choices become much more difficult. Many low-paying careers do not offer the same benefits as other careers – there simply isn’t the money available.

So how does a person in a low income career path save for retirement?

First of all, most low income people will have to plan for their own retirement beyond Social Security. Although some non-profits do offer 403(b) and other such retirement plans, many offer nothing of the kind and expect the employees to figure out their own path.

The best option for most people in such a situation is a Roth IRA, which is paid for with after-tax money. Since y

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