News

2011

February

01

• Judge strikes down entire new health-care law. A federal judge in Florida on Monday became the first to strike down the entire law to overhaul the nation's health-care system, potentially complicating implementation of the statute in the 26 states that brought the suit.

January

30

• New in this season's tax return. For taxpayers who are procrastinators, this is your year. Not only is the Internal Revenue Service asking those with more complex returns to hold off filing until mid-February, but the usual tax deadline has been

• Bank crisis whodunit, with laughs and tears. Truly startling revelations were few in the voluminous report, published last Thursday by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission on the origins of the financial panic. This is hardly a shock, given the flood-the-zone coverage and

• Lose a job? Pay cut? Double check your tax return. If you had some major economic challenges in 2010, your tax situation may be different from in years past. So be more than a passive (or procrastinating) filer this year. Even if you use a professional

28

• Report blames regulators, financial institutions for economic crisis. The official U.S. government report on what caused the financial crisis casts blame on Goldman Sachs for fueling the subprime mortgage bubble, Merrill Lynch for not telling investors about the true state of its

24

• What's new in 2011 tax law. Thanks to a little-known holiday in Washington, D.C., taxpayers will get an extra three days to file their 2010 federal tax returns this year. But some of them will get a late start. Congress made

20

• T-Mobile app blocks drivers from texting, calling & tracks kids. T-Mobile USA Inc. is planning to help parents keep track of their kids -– by shutting down teens’ phones while they drive and pinpointing their location at all times. Pairing with Location Labs, the wireless

18

• Up to half of Americans under 65 have preexisting conditions. As many as 129 million Americans under age 65 have medical problems that are red flags for health insurers, according to an analysis that marks the government's first attempt to quantify the number of people at risk

16

• How health care looks in 2030. Good morning, class. Today's topic, as you know, is "The Evolution of the American Health-Care System" between 2010 and 2030. [...] As you're aware, 2010 was a turning point for the American health-care system: The Patient Protection and Affordable

10

• Insurers and providers at odds on health insurance rules. The new health law encourages doctors, hospitals and insurers to team up in treating patients, but these groups already are at odds as they urge the government to set rules protecting their financial interests. At

• In search of perfect credit. In the enigmatic realm of credit scores, 850 is frequently the magic number* — the almost mythical perfect score. But how possible is it really to achieve a perfect score, and is it worth the effort? MyFICO

09

• Fannie Mae is jacking up mortgage fees. Here's mortgage giant Fannie Mae's sobering New Year's greeting for home buyers and refinancers in 2011: Give me more money! If you want a loan this year, you're going to have to pay more — thousands of

• Changes are likely for FHA insurance refunds. Homeowners who trade in loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration could be in for a big payday, and not just in the form of a lower interest rate and correspondingly lower payments. If your

• Come up with a financial plan. My grandmother, Big Mama, was a stickler for order. From Big Mama I learned to look at a financial situation and come up with a plan. I try to pass on that wisdom to readers,

08

• In college, learning about your money. One of the more difficult questions of the mortgage collapse was just how much blame individuals should take for signing up for loans they didn’t understand. Yes, many mortgage brokers steered people into harmful

• Home loans will cost more in 2011. Here's mortgage giant Fannie Mae's sobering New Year's greeting for home buyers and refinancers in 2011: Give me more money. If you want a loan this year, you're going to have to pay more - thousands

06

• Avoid these 8 rotten 'deals'. Here’s a New Year’s resolution that can pay you back handsomely: Eliminate costly purchases that add little value to your life. Here are eight products or services that for most people are a

• Blue Shield of California seeks rate hikes of up to 59%. Another big California health insurer has stunned individual policyholders with huge rate increases — this time it's Blue Shield of California seeking cumulative hikes of as much as 59% for tens of thousands of customers March 1. Blue

04

• Water-line insurance could be money down the drain. Thousands of California homeowners recently received official-looking letters from a company called Home Emergency Insurance Solutions informing them that they face the prospect of thousands of dollars in unforeseen costs because they lack coverage for

• Big lenders may be first to settle foreclosure probe. he five largest loan servicers, including Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., may be the first to settle with the 50 state attorneys general probing foreclosure practices, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said. No