Archive for April, 2011

Pitt Says Goldman May Lose Business From Stance on FCIC: Video

June 8 (Bloomberg) — Former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Harvey Pitt talks with Bloomberg’s Erik Schatzker about the impact regulatory lawsuits against Goldman Sachs Group Inc. may have on the financial firm.
Goldman Sachs was subpoenaed by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission after panel members said the most profitable firm in Wall Street history engaged in a document “dump” to hinder a probe. (Source: Bloomberg)

Duration : 0:5:42

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Using Debt Management To Free Up Financial Resources

It happens. You are walking down the street and you look up and there it is, the holy grail of all electronics and you…have… to have it. What? No money. No problem. They will sign you up for an in-store credit card. Payments will be low, interest will be high. And yes, they can deliver it today.

That’s the tried and true story of life in pursuit of the “American Way.” Lots of purchases on credit, lots of stuff crowding our homes, lots of debt we can’t ever pay in our entire lifetimes. But isn’t that the way things are meant to be? For some crazy reason Americans love to buy on credit. We continue to make purchase after purchase we can’t afford and then it happens, and one day we wake up in a complete financial crisis, paralyzed by debt and fear and unsure of what we can do to remedy the situation.

Well, if you find yourself in the state of siege you may find comfort in knowing you are certainly not the first, and more than likely will not be the last, to occupy this position. I was there once too. My credit card was procured “just for emergencies.” Then it was for gas and emergencies. Then it was for pizza, gas, and emergencies. You get the idea, I’m sure. Once I had my degree and started my career, I didn’t take care of the debt I had accrued, instead I told myself there would be plenty of time to clean it up and I needed to “live like I had a degree” so people would take me seriously. Do you notice any parallels here? It didn’t take long until I was thousands of dollars in debt, and trying to find my way through the maze of life that would lead me to riches and happiness. Somewhere, however, I must have made a wrong turn because before I knew it the only place I was finding was the credit counseling agency. I was buried in credit card debt, and needed help finding relief. This time was easy to fix, I found a different card carrier that offered a low fixed rate for transfer balances and was able to move all my debts to one card. However, it could have been much worse. If you find too many things about my story that sounds like your own, you may want to look at credit card debt relief for yourself. Finding a counselor is really quite easy, they are listed on the internet and sometimes even in the phone book or on television. Moving balances or procuring a debt consolidation loan can bring about a huge sense of relief and offer you the chance to save your credit rating all at the same time. Better yet, debt management planning can avert the need to file a bankruptcy. So, what are you waiting for? Do it now, before tit’s too late.

Jack Blacksmith
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/using-debt-management-to-free-up-financial-resources-115032.html

How Financial Crisis affected small business owner? What are you going to do to through this difficulty?

Through this financial crisis, how is the relationship between the owner and employee? Does it affect you spend money on your business and life expense? What will you do?
Through this financial crisis, how is the relationship between the owner and employee? Does it affect you spend money on your business and life expense? What will you do?What kind of business you are doing?

i suggest you don’t fire anybody. It will not affect your business, better make meeting with your employees & partner to solve it. Make cost cutting plans, and tell them to do hard work and give extra time and do more work, so that company can face these problem.

Greece riots: 100,000 fight against harsh cuts in Athens financial crisis protests

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At least three people have been killed during protest in Greece, as rioters set fire to a bank building. Thousands are on the streets of Athens in opposition to harsh spending cuts which are part of a new austerity package aimed at saving Greece from bankruptcy. Workers marched to the parliament and clashed with police, with many blaming the government for cutting wages and pensions. The draft bill of the new austerity package will be voted on by the end of the week.

Duration : 0:1:33

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How was the 1980s debt crisis resolved in Argentina?

Who told you it was resolved?. The IMF and the World Bank give us some more time. We could not pay. We got into default status in 2001. The government felt. Then the new government said that we are going to pay when we can, and as we can.

Should we repay our credit card debt during the financial crisis?

Or should it be forgiven?

People should pay what they owe. After all no one had their arm twisted to borrow money or to charge things on credit cards. Those decisions were personal choice. I choose not to go into debt (except for my mortgage which I am paying off as quickly as I can). It means that I have to put things off and save until I can afford them, but that is part of being a grown up. Here is a life plan that can help. If you work the plan, the plan will work for you. It has worked for me for over the decades:

A. Have a garage sale and sell whatever you don’t use or need and use that money to pay down your debt.
B. Consider getting a temporary part time job and use all of that salary to pay off your debt quicker. It is better to have a no fun year
than a no fun decade.
1. Make a budget. Make the budget a week before you get paid. A budget is not a punishment! It is a tool which will free you from ever having to worry about money again. Put everything in your budget. Especially those annual, biannual, or quarterly bills like car registration, insurance, etc. Give every dollar you are going to bring home the name of where it is going. Add an "emergency fund" category to your budget for 25 dollars and save up until you have 1000-1250 dollars. Your emergency fund will help keep you from getting into new debt because of an emergency. If you can, set up a direct transfer to a savings account for your emergency fund. That way it moves automatically and you don’t even have to worry about it. You must cut your spending and live on less than you make.

2.First get current on all of you debts, if you are not already, and make no more late payments, if you have had any. Stop using your credit cards immediately. Do not take on any more debt. Credit cards are like quicksand only the death is much slower. Make a list of all of your debts in order of highest interest rate to lowest interest. Use cash only for your spending from now on.

3.Pay the minimum due on all of your debts and then put your extra money towards paying off the highest interest one first. After you get that one paid off, you put the money you were paying on debt #1 (the minimum payment and the extra payment) towards debt #2. That will pay debt #2 off faster. When that is paid off, you put all three payments towards card #3 and that one will be paid off pretty quickly. As an example:

To start :
Debt #1 (highest interest): minimum payment+ extra payment
Debt #2 (middle interest): minimum payment
Debt #3(lowest interest): minimum payment

Debt #1: paid off
Debt #2: minimum payment from Debt #1+ Minimum payment from Debt #2 +extra payment
Debt #3: minimum payment

Debt #1: paid off
Debt #2: paid off
Debt #3: minimum payment from card #1+ minimum payment from Debt #2+ minimum payment from Debt #3+ extra payment.

That way, you will get them all paid off, on time, and pay the least interest. It will also help towards rebuilding your credit since you will no longer have any late payments. This works no matter how many different debts you may have.

4. After you get all of your debts paid off, add to your emergency fund until you have 6-12 months of income saved up. Put that emergency fund money into a liquid money market fund or into a Bank of America no-risk CD so that if you need the money you can take it out without penalty.

5a. When you have your emergency fund in place, add a category for "fun" to your budget. Save for a holiday, a vacation, a big screen, or dinners out, whatever goal you want. Remember to enjoy your life.

5b. When you have your emergency fund in place, start saving for your retirement. Join the 401(k) plan at work and contribute the maximum. Your employer probably matches at least part of your contribution so why give up free money? Open a Roth IRA and contribute the maximum on a monthly basis. If you start saving for your retirement now, you will probably retire a millionaire.

5c. When you have your emergency fund in place, start saving for your next car. Only buy cars, or other things that depreciate, with cash. Save up for a nicer car. That way you get the interest instead of paying the interest.