Blonch

Yesterday President Obama announced the (forced) resignation of GM’s long-tenured CEO and Chairman, Rick Wagoner along, with a demand that the company take stronger action in restructuring in the next 60 days or face bankruptcy. At the same time he guaranteed both GM and Chrysler’s warranty programs and provided interim funding to keep both companies going, albeit on different paths as he announced the arranged marriage for Chrysler with Fiat in the next 30 days. This is huge news in economics, investments, politics, and nearly any other arena. Rush Limbaugh weighed in with the retail store policy, “if you break it you bought it.” President Obama just took away GM’s leadership and then said “you have to do better, and quickly.” If the President is promising sweeping changes in taxes, regulation, and health care to go along with taking control of businesses that are too large to fail, how does anyone plan for and invest in the future without knowing what the ground rules are going to be? The markets reacted strongly to yesterday’s announcements, broadly losing over 3%.

Although there are different policies for homeowners and tenants (renters) and even condominium owners, in the U.S. there are standardized basic forms that insurance companies must use for most homeowner’s insurance (with the exception of Texas, which still makes state unique forms available, too.) This makes comparing coverage offers from different insurance companies somewhat easier if you know which coverage forms they are quoting and what limits/deductibles they include. You also need to know if they have any special endorsements restricting or broadening coverage. For homeowners, policies that include your home and personal property come in three flavors – basic, broad, and special. All three are “package” policies including property coverage and liability coverage. The big difference is in the property coverage.

Just Say No!
Telemarketers call and say I need credit card loss protection insurance. They just need my approval and they will send out the free trial – no risk kit. Sometimes they offer the first year free, but the renewal payment is automatic. The “free kit” for credit card loss protection is a place for [...]

Ya Gotta Eat
There are a lot of costs involved in going to college. Besides tuition, books, and housing (which we will get to in due course), you are going to want to eat – some, at least. Some scholarships are set up to pay for expenses beyond tuition, and even without financial aid, you [...]

Under the federal bankruptcy statute, a discharge is a release of the debtor from personal liability for certain specified types of debts. In other words, the debtor is no longer required by law to pay any debts that are discharged. Not all debts are discharged. The debts discharged vary under each chapter of the Bankruptcy Code.

In response to the economic crisis, Congressional Democrats unveiled H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also known as the Stimulus bill. After several weeks of debate, a $787 billion package filled with an array of funding for government healthcare, education, energy, and infrastructure programs was agreed upon.

The Stimulus bill passed on a party line vote, with all but three Senate Republicans opposing the bill, and was signed into law on February 17, 2009. I strongly opposed H.R. 1 for three primary reasons.

My employer sponsors a 401k plan with investment options in company stock or selected mutual funds. There are good reasons to not put all of your retirement investments in company stock, but the mutual funds offered in the traditional plan may not cover all the investment vehicles you want to use. Please be aware that this traditional “Prototype” fund may not be your only choice.

For example, Fidelity’s “Non-Prototype” BrokerageLink™ program allows investments in stocks, bonds, exchange traded funds (ETFs), and more, depending on your experience and expertise.