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Depositing Your Paycheck With a Phone App

August 2, 2010 - Busy people who use their smart phones to check their bank balances, transfer funds and pay bills have a new reason to bypass banks and ATMs: They can use their phones to deposit checks.

Earlier this month, JPMorgan Chase updated its iPhone app to allow customers to electronically deposit checks. To make a deposit, customers photograph the front and back of the check with the phone's built-in camera, then transmit the image to their account.

Education Department Cracks Down on For-Profit Colleges; Student Loan Debt Burying New Grads

July 30, 2010 - Student loan debt is one of the fastest growing financial problems for Americans. The Project on Student Debt, a research and advocacy organization in Oakland, Calif., used federal data to estimate that 206,000 people graduated from college (including many from for-profit universities) with more than $40,000 in student loan debt in that same period. That’s a...

Many American Struggle to Understand Credit Card Agreements

July 28, 2010 - Credit card agreements are written on average at a 12th grade reading level, making them not understandable to four out of five adults, according to a CreditCards.com analysis of all the agreements offered by major card issuers in the United States.

The average American adult reads at a ninth-grade level and readability experts recommend important information -- such as credit card agreements -- be written at that level. Only one in five adults reads above a 12th-grade level.

CreditCards.com hired a team of researchers who, using computer software, downloaded...

Reverse Mortgages Losing Popularity

July 27, 2010 - The reverse mortgage industry, hammered for high fees and high pressure sales tactics, has steadily improved its procedures and its image.

Now that the industry is cleaning up its act, it is finding that customers are very hard to find. The volume of reverse mortgages is off nearly 40 percent so far this year, and is on an annual pace to record only 70,000 transactions nationally for the entire year. The number of lenders active in the reverse mortgage market has plunged by more than half in the...

What Financial Reform Means for Your Mortgage

July 22, 2010 - While the financial reform legislation won't upend the conventions of buying or selling a home, it will precipitate key changes within the mortgage market. Even after all of the new rules are implemented, most consumers will still encounter the same figures--real estate agents, mortgage brokers, home inspectors--that have long defined the home-buying process. But the legislation includes a number of specific provisions that, while perhaps less visible to house hunters, will have a profound effect on the type of mortgage...

Tax Savings in July? You Bet!

July 20, 2010 - Everyone knows that April is when most Americans worry about their Taxes. But July? Yes summer is a great time to think about tax savings. For example:

Everyone wants to beat the summer heat. If you are planning on making upgrades to cool down your home, remember that tax credits of up to $1,500 are available on everything from windows and doors to insulation and cooling systems, provided those home upgrades are energy efficient.

And get some cash back on your kids' summer camp.

If you send a child twelve years old or younger to a day camp, the cost may...

Having the

July 17, 2010 - Congrats! Your kid landed a summer job in this tight, tight economy.

Now, of course, he'll have that $7.25 an hour burning a hole in his pocket. That's where you step in: Parents have a real opportunity to help teens learn to manage that first paycheck. Share some solid financial strategies with your teen now, and your child may even have some cash left over come...

Complaint About Debt Collectors Surge

Karen Campbell is a Financial Writer for Persels & Associates

July 16, 2010 - Complaints of harassment by debt collectors surged 50% to 67,550 in 2009, according to the Federal Trade Commission. And they are on track to jump 13% this year, based on the number of FTC complaints filed in the first six months.

The No. 1 complaint is repeated calls, and it is...

Bankruptcy Filings Rose in June

July 15, 2010 - Bankruptcies continue to rise with high unemployment, lack of jobs and the US housing market in worse shape than predicted cited as causes. According to the American Bankruptcy Institute, personal bankruptcy filings increased 14% during the first half of 2010.

There were 770,117 filings through June. During the same period in 2009, there were 675,351 filings.

Samuel Gerdano, executive director...
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