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What To Do When Your Bank Is Merging

by Flexo

Marketwatch has published an interesting article with advice for customers whose banks are going through a merger. I’m no stranger to this phenomenon. When I was 16, I had my first bank account with New Jersey National Bank. It was sooner or later bought by or merged with CoreStates (Dec. 6, 1996), then First Union ... Continue reading this article…

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Recession Prediction

by Flexo

Predicting recessions is fun for the whole family. Even George Soros is doing it. The billionaire believes the Federal Reserve will tighten monetary policy too much, resulting in a “hard landing” for the economy in 2007. Less famous people are predicting the same. James F. Smith, who served as an economist for the Fed in ... Continue reading this article…

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Rebate Scams

by Flexo

One piece of advice by those who love frugal shopping is to take advantage of rebates whenever possible. Many people followed this advice in the recently passed holiday shopping season. Most of those purchasers will not receive their rebates. According to Senator Chuck Schumer, the most diligent customer who follows the complicated instructions exactly has ... Continue reading this article…

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Best Of 2005

by Flexo

As the year is coming to a close, and I will be less available over the next few days, the opportunity is perfect for taking a look at Consumerism Commentary and compiling a list of “best” (or most popular) entries from the year. This will be the 570th entry in 2005, but only a few ... Continue reading this article…

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Congress Raises Student Loan Interest Rates

by Flexo

When congress cut federal funding from student loan programs, they raised interest rates for Stafford loans from 4.7 percent to 6.8 percent and PLUS loans from 6.1 percent to 8.5 percent. These rates will go into effect on July 1, 2006. A student with a balance of $10,000 upon graduation, taking a full ten years to pay off the ... Continue reading this article…

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Federal Reserve Does What Is Expected

by Flexo

The Federal Reserve bumped up the short-term rate target to 4.25 percent, while hinting the increases may come to an end at some point. This activity practiced by the Federal Reserve Board at their meetings is a very strange ritual. If you think about what they do, you may come to the conclusion it’s more like ... Continue reading this article…

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Resolutions for 2006

by Flexo

In December, I start to reflect on the year that’s almost complete and begin looking forward to new new year in which I can use the opportunity to resolve to improve some aspects of my life. Here are my resolutions. (These may change all the way up to December 31, so check back for updates!) ... Continue reading this article…

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Three Worst House Buying Excuses

by Flexo

According to MSN Money, here are the three worst reasons for buying a house: * It’s “better than the stock market.” “In the past 40 years, the average appreciation for homes has exceeded the inflation rate by only a percentage point or so. Compare that to stocks, which have bested inflation by 7 percentage points ... Continue reading this article…

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