Personal Finance and Investing

Financial services today cover a dazzling range of options. Ads promise great results, for low cost, with little effort. Base your search for the best option on a systematic review and comparison of written quotes.

Know you options for each type of service you consider. You may not qualify for all services. Initially look for companies offering advice, reducing interest rates, extending payment schedules, and negotiating reductions in principal owed. The best companies may use all tactics, depending upon the unique personal situation of each client.

Credit counseling services do not directly reduce payments or debts.

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Former Bear Stearns Cos. hedge fund managers Ralph Cioffi, left, and Matthew Tannin, right, are… Former Bear Stearns Cos. hedge fund managers Ralph Cioffi, left, and Matthew Tannin, right, are escorted out of 26 Federal Plaza in New York, U.S., in these file photos taken June 19, 2008. Cioffi and Tannin were found not guilty Nov. 10, 2009, of misleading investors who lost $1.6 billion, the first major test of a U.S. effort to obtain convictions tied to the subprime mortgage crisis and subsequent recession. Read more…

Most of us are aware of those credit card convenience checks often sent to us by our credit card company. Sometimes they come with special rates and incentives, and many are sent right along with our credit card bill.

The checks are blank and ready to use. Sounds tempting, doesn’t it? A

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Did you know that medical debt can ruin a consumer’s credit? Some people believe that medical debt is excluded from the credit calculation, or they don’t even think about the unintended consequences of medical debt. Yet every year millions of people find themselves faced with medical debt collectors or medical debts that are long term and too high to ever pay off.

In an article that appeared in the Dallas Morning News (25-October-2009) there is a story about Gayle and Steve Smith. Mr. Smith had a heart attack during a period when he was uninsured. The couple found themselves with a $70,000 debt and no way to pay it. Eve

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