Personal Finance - baltimoresun.com

Maryland offers tax relief on debt forgiveness

Eileen Ambrose — Wed, 23 May 2012 15:00:00 GMT

For a long time, you had to pay income tax on debt that your mortgage lender forgave. During the height of the housing crisis, the federal government offered a reprieve — it stopped collecting income tax on up to $2 million of forgiven mortgage debt on a primary residence.

CFPB takes first step toward regulating prepaid cards

Eileen Ambrose — Wed, 23 May 2012 11:00:00 GMT

Prepaid debit cards have been called the Wild West because of their rapid growth, uncontrollable fees and little regulation.

IRS says it's becoming even more kind and gentle to struggling taxpayers

Eileen Ambrose — Tue, 22 May 2012 11:03:00 GMT

The IRS has been granting more leniency to struggling taxpayers through a program called Fresh Start.

Maryland to launch small business lending program

By Eileen Ambrose , The Baltimore Sun — Mon, 21 May 2012 22:24:00 GMT

Success will depend on banks' participation

Eileen Ambrose: Maryland small businesses gripe that they can't get loans from banks. Lenders complain of a dearth of borrowers. Is there any way to get these two together?

Consuming Interests: Dog bites are 'inherently dangerous' to finances

Eileen Ambrose — Mon, 21 May 2012 12:59:00 GMT

Maryland dog lovers are upset by a ruling in the highest court in the state that says pit bulls are “inherently dangerous,” which means owners and landlords can be liable for the first bite a pit bull makes.

ID thieves filing fake returns using data on real taxpayers

By Eileen Ambrose , The Baltimore Sun — Sun, 20 May 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Victims can spend more than a year trying to clear up the mess

Here's another reason to file your tax returns as early as possible: an identity thief might beat you to the money.

Some oppose smart meters in Md.

By Hanah Cho , The Baltimore Sun — Sun, 20 May 2012 04:00:00 GMT

State energy regulators to consider opt-out option

Jonathan Libber likes his analog utility meter just fine. And no amount of debate will persuade him that new wireless, digital "smart meters" being installed by Baltimore Gas and Electric and other utilities around the country would help conserve energy, reduce his bill and make service more reliable.

FTC says it settled with debt collector that posed as Ed McMahon

Eileen Ambrose — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:43:00 GMT

The Federal Trade Commission has been cracking down on businesses that try to collect debts from consumers that they don’t even owe.

New Md. law aims to halt financial abuse of the elderly

By Eileen Ambrose , The Baltimore Sun — Mon, 14 May 2012 23:23:00 GMT

Financial institutions will be required to report suspicions of fraud against older Marylanders

Maryland banks and credit unions are likely to be among the first to notice that an elderly customer is being financially exploited by a con artist or an unscrupulous relative.

Hot weather could offset winter energy savings

By Scott Dance — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:26:00 GMT

The mild winter meant a dearth of heating degree days. Early in the cooling degree days season, the warm trend is having the opposite result.

FTI Consulting's stock falls on first-quarter earnings miss

By Jamie Smith Hopkins , The Baltimore Sun — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:59:00 GMT

Baltimore business services company produces 18 cents a share less than expected

FTI Consulting Inc.'s stock price hit a 12-month low Wednesday after the business services company fell short of financial analysts' expectations for first-quarter earnings.

T. Rowe Price managers met with Facebook execs

By Hanah Cho , The Baltimore Sun — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:13:00 GMT

Facebook is on roadshow in advance of May 19 IPO

As part of its public offering roadshow, Facebook executives met with managers of T. Rowe Price, whose stake in the social media company could be worth as much as $637 million in the public market.

Walmart beats Target in online shopping satisfaction

By Lorraine Mirabella — Wed, 09 May 2012 12:43:00 GMT

Online shoppers prefer Walmart to Target.

Home renovations are a lot of work — and require due diligence

By Eileen Ambrose , The Baltimore Sun — Mon, 07 May 2012 23:54:00 GMT

What consumers should do before hiring a builder or contractor

About a year ago, Matt Venditto hired a builder to construct a house in Westminster. It wasn't long before buyer's remorse set in.

Banks and credit unions to offer cash prizes under new law

By Eileen Ambrose , The Baltimore Sun — Sun, 06 May 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Another effort to get us to save

The thrill of potentially winning big bucks gets people to spend millions of dollars regularly on lottery tickets. Can this same concept excite Marylanders to become better savers?

Students, need a summer job? Here's help

Eileen Ambrose — Thu, 03 May 2012 11:04:00 GMT

The White House, Department of Labor and others have announced an update on a program to get companies, cities and federal agencies to commit to youths for the summer.

Consuming Interests: Best credit cards for graduates

Eileen Ambrose — Wed, 02 May 2012 11:00:00 GMT

CardHub.com, the credit card comparison site, gave these cards top marks for new college and high school graduates:

T. Rowe closes its high-yield bond funds to new investors

By Hanah Cho , The Baltimore Sun — Tue, 01 May 2012 19:21:00 GMT

Price's High Yield Fund and Institutional High Yield Fund affected

T. Rowe Price Group closed its high-yield bond funds to new investors as of Monday, the Baltimore money manager announced Tuesday.

New savings bonds earning a rate of 2.2 percent

Eileen Ambrose — Tue, 01 May 2012 17:54:00 GMT

The Bureau of Public Debt announced the new rates on savings bonds.

Consuming Interests: Thieves target the dead for ID theft

Eileen Ambrose — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:04:00 GMT

You can be dead and still be a victim in this world. A new report by ID Analytics find that thieves target the dead, using their Social Security numbers to get credit cards, cellphones and other services.

Regulators pressure life insurers to help beneficiaries collect their due

By Eileen Ambrose , The Baltimore Sun — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:13:00 GMT

Potentially $2 billion in benefits left to be recovered, regulator says

Regulators nationwide are pushing life insurers to do a better job of tracking when policyholders die and locating the beneficiaries — an effort that could reap billions of dollars for consumers.

State regulators take over two Maryland banks

By Hanah Cho , The Baltimore Sun — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 23:33:00 GMT

Bank of Eastern Shore in Cambridge and HarVest Bank in Gaithersburg are state's first bank failures since 2010

State banking regulators closed two Maryland banks Friday, the first two bank failures in the state since 2010.

Are men better with credit cards than women in Maryland?

Eileen Ambrose — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:00:00 GMT

Alas, sisters, a study by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation finds that men are better users of credit cards.

Susan Reimer: Student loan debt traps parents, too

Susan Reimer — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:20:00 GMT

Many are buying more college than they can afford

Just as parents and their high school seniors are about to sign those college acceptance letters, there is news that unless Congress acts by July 1, the interest rate on federal student loans will double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent.

Consuming Interests: Jobs with low unemployment rates

Eileen Ambrose — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 11:00:00 GMT

If you’re looking for job security, how about becoming a lawyer or financial analyst?