On Friday the thirteenth, the Fed shut down Orion Bank.  The Orion Bank closing constitutes the 122nd bank failure this year.
Orion owns a branch across the street from my office.  I would like to say that this was shocking, but it wasn’t.  For years, my clients have been filing for bankruptcy on loans [...]

New York City has noticed the percentage of people paying cab drivers with a credit cards has risen dramatically in the past two years.  The question is whether the use of credit cards has risen for convenience purposes or because of the economy?
Other cities have been slow on the take, and they have not implemented [...]

The headlines yesterday all carried the same story.  The Health Care Bill passed by the House of Representatives died.  Life support cannot save this Bill.  So, why did our elected officials go through the motions knowing that the Bill did not have a chance of passing in the Senate?  Do you think they already knew [...]

More Americans are feeling the pain caused by the economy.  Despite what you hear on your local news or national news, America is still in a recession.  I really don’t care what the White House or CNN says about the economy.  I listen to my clients, and what they are saying isn’t good.

More people than ever are making Social Security claims because of the poor economy.  Social Security is currently running a surplus of $2.5 trillion dollars, but those numbers are based upon debt obligations and will fade fast in the future unless something is done to correct the system.  Everyone knows that the Social Security system [...]

When President Obama said he wanted Change, I don’t think he understood the ramifications of his choice of words.  In the last few weeks, I have heard of more businesses closing their doors because of lack of credit and cash flow, and I have witnessed more people paying with pockets of change than I have [...]

As the economy stays in the toilet, one big question for an American Family is: How are we going to pay for College?  Well, assuming that there is no pre-paid college plan or a 529 Plan, this decision is going to be whether you take money out of savings or finance the education.  This is [...]

Knowing your debt to income ratio, could help you make sounder financial decisions in the future.  Your debt to income ratio is used by companies who are considering lending you money to determine if you are carrying too much debt in relation to your income.  You can figure out your debt to income ratio rather [...]

In October of 2008, I wrote:  2008 will be remembered as the Year of the Bank Fee.  Well, I was wrong.  2009 will be the year of the bank overdraft fee.  According to an article that I read at CNN money, bank overdraft fees could exceed $38.5 million dollars.  The scary part of the article [...]

Why would a family member steal a child’s social security number and obtain credit in the child’s name?  More importantly, what kind of company would give credit to a child after a reasonable inquiry?   Desperation is the only rational explanation that I can think of, and that is on both the person stealing the [...]