Personal Finance

In the third quarter 2007 the American consumer was way out of shape when it came to the percentage of debt payments to disposable income, hitting a 30-year high at 14%... Today the ratio is nearing 30-year lows! Could this be good news for the markets???

Bitcoin is the first peer-to-peer (P2P) digital currency and payment system to gain significant interest. This month its marketcap surpassed $1 billion. [Below is a description of what Bitcoin is, and isn't, and why it has caught on to the extent it has.]

What currency is feared by the European Central Bank as a threat to fiat monetary institutions? What currency is cash-like, but digitally transmittable allowing for ultimate anonymity and global mobility? What digital currency is up over 2,200% over the last year? The answer? Bitcoin.

The funds you have placed on deposit and the property you thought was secured in your safe deposit box may not be safe under certain circumstances. They may, in fact, all end up belonging to the bank and not to you.

The mainstream media has generally been very quiet about the massive cyber attacks against our major banks, but behind the scenes authorities are truly alarmed. They don't know how to stop them, and they just keep getting more intense and more sophisticated. In fact, major U.S. bank websites have been offline for a total of 249 hours over the past six weeks. [Imagine if you] (like thousands upon thousands of Chase customers last month) logged into your bank account only to discover that your balance had all been reset to zero... [Here's what to do to protect yourself.] Words: 960

The economy is slowly hobbling back to health but for many Americans the rainy day fund is still looking a little dry, the credit card bill is still looking a little scary [Unfortunately, the liklihood is that,] as the economy strengthens further, many Americans will...spend their new found extra cash rather than save it. Words: 474

When the government runs out of money, or they face a drying up in interest for its debt, they will come for the $19.4 trillion in Americans' retirement accounts. It seems that day may be finally drawing near. Here's why.

More than 25% of American workers (33% of those in their 40s) with 401(k) and other retirement savings accounts use them to pay current expenses, new data show, [which is] undermining already shaky retirement security for millions of Americans. With federal policymakers eyeing cuts to Social Security benefits and Medicare to rein in soaring federal deficits, and traditional pensions in a long decline, retirement savings experts say the drain from the accounts has dire implications for future retirees. Words: 890

There are huge amounts of money in the IRA ($3.5 trillion) and 401(k) ($5.1 trillion) retirement plans in the U.S. (another $9.9 trillion in assets held elsewhere) according to a recent Investment Company Institute study which makes it very tempting for government to try and get at it. [While] the government may, or may not, tax the money, they may force you to include a sizable percentage of the retirement assets in your IRA and/or 401(k) in U.S. Treasury securities, which may be among the worst investments in the years ahead as interest rates go up and price inflation eats away at the buying power of those IOUs. [Let me explain.] Words: 802

Saving rates continue to fall. As full-time employment remains elusive, the average American continues to resort to debt, and governmental support, to fill the gap between waning real incomes and their expected standard of living....[This] will continue to impede economic growth until such time as either debt returns to levels that are conducive for higher levels of personal savings or incomes rise. [Words: 1322; Charts: 7]