News

2019

July

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• Dream of retiring abroad? Medicare doesn’t travel well. As the number of American retirees living overseas grows, more are confronting choices about medical care. If they were living in the United States, Medicare would generally be their coverage option. But Medicare doesn&rsquo

• Americans have big student loans but little financial literacy. The federal government says 43 million individuals carry student loan debt and very few get any formal financial literacy education.

• Student loan scam stopped. The Federal Trade Commission shut down two fake student debt relief operations with millions of dollars lost in the schemes.

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• A key piece of Obamcare finds an unlikely foe. In the heat of the legislative fight over the Affordable Care Act, Obama administration officials argued that a steep tax on high-cost health insurance plans would hold down soaring health care costs by prompting employers

• Roth 401(k): The other employer-based retirement plan. The Roth 401(k), like a Roth IRA, lets you build a nest egg that grows tax-free, but relatively few workers take advantage of this opportunity. With the traditional 401(k), contributions are pre-tax money — taken

• Dowloaded FaceApp? Here’s what you’ve just done to your privacy. FaceApp is a program that takes photos of people and “ages” them using artificial intelligence. Soon after it shot to the top of the Apple and Google store charts this week, privacy advocates

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• Facebook cryptocurrency Libra skewered on Capitol Hill. Some lawmakers say Libra could threaten government-backed currencies and consumer privacy, while giving Facebook reign over an unprecedented global financial system.

• Lack of affordable housing fuels reverse migration. The search for affordable housing is driving a new migration pattern. Instead of moving from the dust bowl states to California, today’s financial woes push people from high-cost coastal cities to the

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• On 107-degree day, APS cut power to customers. If Arizona Public Service hadn't cut off her electricity last September, Stephanie Pullman might still be alive today. On August 23, 2018, the utility mailed a warning letter to the 72-year-old’s home in Sun

• T-Mobile says it can't be sued by users. T-Mobile is already facing a class-action lawsuit that's making its way through the court system to hold the company accountable for its behavior. There's just one problem: the mobile carrier says that if

• Regulatory rollback on student loans takes away borrower protections. On June 28, the Department of Education announced the end of an important student loan regulation that since 2015 has held colleges with career training programs accountable for failure to provide an education that resulted in marketable

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• Five things to avoid on Amazon Prime Day. It’s that time of the year—Prime Day is July 15 and 16. The event has turned into summer’s version of Black Friday, a shopping frenzy that can turn into a

• U.S. proposes barring big tech from offering financial services. A proposal to prevent big technology companies from functioning as financial institutions or issuing digital currencies has been circulated for discussion by the Democratic majority that leads the House Financial Services Committee, according to a

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• D.C. stands up for consumers in deceptive hotel pricing scheme. The Washington, D.C., Attorney General’s office announced a lawsuit against Marriott International Inc. for charging consumers “deceptive resort fees.” These fees, often called “resort fees,” “amenity fees

• Why you shouldn't take on mom's debt, even if it's from your student loan. What obligation do you have to a parent who takes out a loan for your education? It’s an issue that came up during a recent online discussion.

• DC AG says Marriot's fees deceive consumers. The attorney general for the District of Columbia is suing Marriott, saying it's misleading customers by advertising room rates without including mandatory resort fees. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in D.C. Superior Court

• Teachers union sues Betsy DeVos over loan forgiveness program. The American Federation of Teachers union sued Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Thursday, alleging that the department has mismanaged a federal program that grants teachers and other public service workers loan forgiveness after they make 10 years

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• The great race to rule streaming TV. One big question is what all this means for us, at home, fishing in the cushions for our remotes: If even a network as seemingly sacred as HBO can be pressured by corporate bosses to

• Earthquake insurance: Is it worth it?. “'No one can predict the future,” Ridout said. “But generally, homeowners are better served by putting their money into bolting the house to its foundation or other safety upgrades rather than premiums.'

• What might happen if the government forgave student debt?. About one in every six American adults owes money on a federal student loan. So it makes sense that candidates for the 2020 presidential election have proposed ways of dealing with this debt to allow millions