Financial News Reporting from 1-800LoanMart on our Nation’s Debt
By Title Loans Master | December 28, 2011
Our country has been in debt now for a long time. It has gotten to the point that there is no plan of debt relief that can even help, or so it seems. In August there was a debacle over the debt increase and that was made. A $2.4 trillion increase to the debt ceiling was set into play with $400 billion starting immediately and $500 billion following in September. The final phase of that increase is about to happen and the Republican House wants to block it.
The block in the national debt ceiling can only come about if both the House and the Senate pass a resolution against it. Since the Democrats have control of the Senate this is a long shot. Even if a joint resolution were to be passed the president could veto it. Most of our Congress is on a holiday until the 17th of January and because of that lawmakers may not even get to introduce any resolutions because of the 15 day window.
How will this affect the general public? That is really where the concern lays. The answer is that it will have very little effect on the economy in the instant. Our nation has been talking about a plan to get out of debt for over a decade. It seems that with increases like these we will be in debt a lot longer then we thought. If you have any thoughts on this please post here.
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Financial News Reporting from 1-800LoanMart on Minimum Wage Rates
By Title Loans Master | December 27, 2011
In Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont, Florida, and Washington the minimum wage is rising from 28 to 37 cents per hour in the beginning of 2012. The rates in these states are already above the federal minimum wage of $7.25. There are a total of 18 states right now that do have minimum wage rates above the federal minimum wage rates and ten of them raise their rates each year to make sure their rates reflect an increase in the cost of living. While Missouri’s rate is under the federal minimum the rest of the states are at least at the $7.25.
This increase of rates will add to between $582 to $770 increase for full time workers. This is expected to increase consumer spending and adding $366 million to our nation’s gross domestic products. In turn, this will create more than 3,000 full time jobs.
There is still another issue in our country. We were granted an extension in the payroll tax cut until February. The payroll tax cut is set to have workers pay only 4.2% into social security on the first $110,100 of their wages which is 2 percent less than the normal 6.2% rate. If the extension is not approved for all of 2012 Americans in a low income will lose hundreds while workers making over 6 figures will see thousands of dollar loses.
All in all the wage increase will help offset the payroll tax. If the tax cut gets another extension than we will all see an increase in spending. It is also safe to say that a lot of the people working for minimum wage are not going to be aware of the payroll tax break. Usually people in the lower income ranges do not pay as close attention to what they are paying during tax season. This is all speculation but it is something to think about. Basically if we get the payroll tax cut alongside the wage increase it will add to another boost to the economy. This is promising for Americans who are expecting to get out of this economic slump we have been in.
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Financial News Reporting from 1-800LoanMart on Unemployment Benefits and the Payroll Tax Deal
By Title Loans Master | December 23, 2011
Many of the unemployed Americans have been waiting on some sort of reply to the federal unemployment benefits extension. Today we got some good news, kind of. Congress made a deal to extend the unemployment benefits until February 29th of 2012. It was scheduled to end on December the 31st of 2011. Two months does not seem like a fair extension to those in need of the money but it is indeed a start.
The payroll tax cut was extended till February, also. This means that workers will only pay 4.2% on the first $110,100 of their wages into social security. Our legislation is dedicated to ensuring that in January Americans who work will not see a reduction and the long term jobless will not see an interruption in the unemployment benefits. What about the Medicare Doctors? Medicare doctors have been given a break since 2003. Well if by break I mean not taken something they deserve away then yes that is what I mean. Under our law Medicare repayments to doctors must be reduced whenever those payments surpass a certain target and that target has been surpassed every year since 2003.
We have now seen another extension in the Medicare “Doc Fix” the bill that is set to avoid 27% cut in payments to Medicare physicians. Getting these three extensions will, in my opinion, help with our economy. I say this because we are at a slow but steady gain to a more productive economy. Remember this is only a short extension some believe to get us thru the holidays. There will be more votes in January to see what will happen at the end of February. Until then have a happy holiday season and a Merry Christmas.
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Financial News Reporting from 1-800LoanMart on Saving and Investing
By Title Loans Master | December 22, 2011
If you are wondering how to get a head with your money you have then maybe you are asking the wrong questions. The question people should be asking is where not to invest their money in or what not to do with investments they have. When you have money it’s natural you want to use it to make more money. That’s the American dream.
There are a few things you should avoid doing with your money, or your credit for that matter, that I would like to point out. Stop borrowing from your 401K. You end up paying taxes on the money multiple times when you withdraw. What if when you take the money out you get laid off? Now you owe on the 401K and you have to pay interest on it.
If you read my report on bonds you already know how I feel about that. Any long term bond fund is never a good choice, in my opinion. If you do decide to choose bonds then choose an individual bond that you can hold onto until it matures. It is good to think about how the economy affects bonds and when yields rise the price of the bonds drops.
Stop co-singing for people! I mean it. I have seen so many people get burned when they are trying to do something to help out a loved one. There have been situations in my own life where I needed a co-signer. I made good on my loan but what about those who are not responsible enough to pay their debts. The fact of the matter is people will need co-signers. Whether it is because they have poor credit, they don’t have enough credit to get the amount they need, or they don’t make enough money. In any of these cases co-signing would be a silly idea unless it is someone in your immediate family and then please be careful.
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Financial News Reporting from 1-800LoanMart on the Housing Market 2
By Title Loans Master | December 21, 2011
Yesterday I wrote on the housing market and today I want to take the time to get a little more in depth with how America has taken a bad situation, our economy, and turned it around for the buyers. The person who is in the market for a home right now is in a better situation than ever before. About 45 percent of the housing market is either a short sale or a REO, a house repossessed. This is insanely high from past years and it makes the average buy with short sales and about $50,000 less than a regular sale.
For a REO the average house is selling for about $70,000 less than in a regular sale. This is great news for buyers. It is affecting the banks and the mortgage companies in a bad way though. Banks do not want to lend money to a home that has no value. So if you found a house that is in poor condition and is an REO it is a lot harder to get the money from a bank. I am not saying they will not give you the loan but it will be a tougher loan to get.
With all these homes in distress it brings down the value of a good home in good condition. Now we need to look at this from the homeowner who has paid his bills every month and wants to move and sell the house. If he has owned the home for 5 years or more chances are that if he sells in this market he/she will lose money. The overall market has shifted about 25 percent in the red but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Things are looking up. With our economy going into 2012 starting to improve and more people taking the risks to buy then the value increases. I personally believe right now is the best time to buy. What do you think?
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Financial News Reporting from 1-800LoanMart on the Housing Market
By Title Loans Master | December 20, 2011
For years our economy has been in the dumps. Our housing market included. In the past ten years we have experienced short sales, federal bails for banks, and a huge drop in our economy. For example last year in November home construction totaled 554,000 units which is the lowest since we started keeping track in 1959.
Starts catapulted a whopping 9.3 percent increase to 685,000 annual rate. Not only that, building permits had a huge jump to a more than one year high. As the rental market gets better work on multifamily units like apartments and townhouses are growing at incredible rates. Our market is shifting; single family home construction is expected to get stronger as lower home prices reach a record low. There are many buyers out there that have the money to invest into property. It was such a poor investment a few years ago with nothing looking up for the US, but it seems now’s the time.
This all means a lot not just to investors but to the general public as well. Considering the permits increase, which is at a level it hasn’t seen in years, we are starting to provide more jobs. The construction will give workers the work they need to support their family and add to increasing jobs for labor. Union workers will get going on these new builds as well. It really will put a lot of money back in the economy and we are excited to lead into the New Year!
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Financial News Reporting from 1-800LoanMart on Marketing Deals
By Title Loans Master | December 19, 2011
Marketing technics are what’s getting people shopping this year. Did you know that 70 percent of our economy is accounted for by household purchases? It’s true the spending done is America is mostly done at the household level. That’s why companies like J.C. Penny and Sears Holdings Corp had two Cyber Monday sales. The retailers in the U.S. are seriously relaying mostly on marketing to keep the consumers spending. Target Corp just had a three-day sale.
Here we say take advantage of the deals that are being freely given. These marketing schemes are set into place to get you in the store. When a company puts out a gift card deal like by this item and get a $20 gift card it is used to get you back in the store spending money again. That’s why they give you the gift card after your purchase. The point I am trying to make is that most household spenders are going to spend money anyways. People need appliances, cleaning supplies, food and décor. If a company is going to give you something like a free gift card or 50% off of your next purchase take advantage and get the savings you deserve.
I can give you a bunch of numbers to support my comments and you will understand how the companies that are doing well in this unstable economy are doing it. Or I can suggest that you take the time to see what deals are out there. Use the internet as your guide to find out where the best deals are. Chances are there is a store down the street that will pay you to buy a product from them. Do some prepping for all of your holiday and New Year’s shopping!
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Financial News Reporting from 1-800LoanMart on Unemployment Levels
By Title Loans Master | December 16, 2011
If you read my post from yesterday, Financial News Reporting from 1-800LoanMart on Today’s Stock and Work Market, you know that I have been following the worlds market closely. I wanted to go into more depth about what is really going on in the US job market. After being at an all-time low in October we have seen some pretty nice decreases in the amount of unemployment applications filed. This does not necessarily mean that people are getting more work.
There are jobs available in our market. Some of the people that were filing for unemployment benefits were placed on a federal extension that is now projected to stop in January. There still needs to be a vote by congress but things are not looking up for those on unemployment. Some believe this is part of the reason for the decrease in unemployment filing. The people that were on the extension were taking the government cheese rather than taking a low paying job.
There is another factor to look at. The market as a whole had reached a sort of bare bones state. Whereas all the jobs that needed to be filled were still filled and the corporate world shaved off the extras. It is speculated that the decrease in unemployment filing is due to there simply being no more room to let people go. Thus there is a decrease in the filing percentage.
Another factor to consider is the exporting we were used to from Europe has decreased. Increasing the production in the US. We have made some great changes as a nation headed into 2012, with the end of the war in Iraq and the increasing of US commodities.
All in all this seems to be a great change in our economy. Fi this sort of decrease of unemployment can subside we will be out of this depression sooner than you would think. I will be following this closely and posting new news on the job market as I am updated.
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Financial News Reporting from 1-800LoanMart on Todays Stock and Work Market
By Title Loans Master | December 15, 2011
Today the market seems to be at a great increase. The US stocks rose today, Thursday December the 15th, and government data has shown that cleans for unemployment benefits are actually at a 3 year low. This is making everyone in and outside of Wall Street pretty excited.
The S&P rose a whopping 4 points this morning. The Dow Jones is up 55 points and the Nasdaq is still up, but only a point. The number of people asking for unemployment benefits is down 366,000 people in the latest week, which is the lowest we have seen it since May of 2008. The analysts expected those numbers to be a lot smaller, saying that people are beginning to find the work they need.
The chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics says “If claims can remain at this level, payroll growth will strengthen markedly within a month or so.” This is all great news for the United States market and the people that are in need of work. What this all means for the U.S. public is that things might be looking up for us. Although in Europe the Euro is still down and investors are concerned that government policies meant to fix the problem will not be enough to prevent any sort of banking crisis that could affect the worldly financial system.
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Financial News Reporting from 1-800LoanMart on the Payroll Tax Cut
By Title Loans Master | December 14, 2011
The Republican plan to extend the payroll tax cut which will speed the process for the approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline was passed. The bill now has a shot at the Senate. If it passes there and reaches the President, Barack Obama, some speculate that he will veto the plan. The Republicans want to begin the building of the pipeline from Canada to Texas saying that it will create jobs for Americans. While the Democrats agree that it will provide jobs for Americans they think that we should wait another year before beginning the project.
Democrats believe that we should extend the payroll tax cut and save the Americans on average $1,000 a year for the working class. Plus, the State Department recently said that the decision on the pipeline would be put off until 2013 to allow them to check for environmental issues that critics might rise. A lot of politics going on here and many believe that next year’s presidential election has a lot to do with putting off the plan.
With the recent unemployment extension on hiatus, if this plan gets passed and the federal unemployment extension ends Americans will lose out on a lot of relief but also jobs will be increasing. Most can clearly see that this plan is really there to grease the pockets of the Republicans, but will it in fact help America? Are the Republicans responsible for this plan going to provide enough work to get our unemployment rate increased? There is much speculation regarding this subject, and in my humble opinion, I would like to think the pipeline plan will make enough jobs to counter balance the loss of a tax cut, but in the time being most middle class Americans need to see savings now. With that being said it is very tough to choose sides. What do you think will do America the greater good?
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Financial News Reporting from 1-800LoanMart on Ways to Improve Your Finances Before the Year is Over
By Title Loans Master | December 13, 2011
It seems every year there is a new way to save or make more money. For the end of 2011 and for 2012 there are a few ways I would like to point out. At the end of 2012 there is a provision that would allow you to give away property to a relative and you can get exemptions up to $5 million but at the end of 2012 it will go back to the norm which is only $1 million. You can also give someone up to $13,000 without affecting your exemption.
Get rid of a losing investment. There are special tax loss rules the IRS has that will balance off some of the losses. It has been considered a short term strategy, but if you are already in the red with the stock. Get some cash back by writing it off.
There are ways you can donate to charity and get tax relief. Put your cash into a donor advised fund and you will get a tax benefit this year. If you are over 70 and a half you can donate up to $100,000 to a nonprofit company out of your IRA and thus avoid paying taxes on the individual retirement account.
If you time your taxes right you can definitely save yourself some cash. In 2013 tax rates are supposedly going to jump. It might be a good idea for you to pay more taxes in 2011 and 2012 if it can lessen the burden of 2013.
I hope these few tips I posted help you with your years-end and remember everyone’s finances are different but, we can all help each other save a few bucks. What worked for me may not be suitable for you and vice versa but none the less we can all share our strategies and help each other.
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Financial News Reporting from 1-800LoanMart on unemployment in America
By Title Loans Master | December 12, 2011
The federal government steps in and has been providing unemployment since 2008. The benefits consist of up to 53 weeks of emergency funds that are divided into four tiers, and up to another 20 weeks or extra benefits. When someone gets laid off or becomes unemployed they file for state unemployment. When the states benefits are over the federal benefits will begin.
In December of 2011 Congress passed a 13 month extension and people thought it was going to be the last. We are rounding off the New Year and another decision has to be made. Since the economy has not gotten much better since last year the unemployment rate is still high and the unemployment benefits from the federal government should continue. If there is not a decision made soon the funds will expire and there will be no extension.
One good factor regarding the congress involved is that both the Republicans and the Democrats agree that unemployment benefits should be extended. The problem that lies there is they both think the funds should come from different parts of the government.
There are good things that come from the unemployment. People get enough money on average to support their families. They get an average of $296 a week. The money is also spent generally within the community and thus puts the money right back into it. I believe that the money being spent within a community is what will eventually help to bring back a better economy. I say that to say I agree with the federal unemployment in America and hope they do another extension.
How do you feel about the federal unemployment? What would you do to change the economy? Is it to many lazy Americans that are over educated and unwilling to settle or is it just a bad economy.
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Financial News Reporting from 1-800LoanMart on Tax Planning
By Title Loans Master | December 9, 2011
In years past the year-end tax planning for the next year was a challenging task to make sure you have all your new laws aligned with the ways to turn the most profit for that year. This year-end tax planning might be a little harder. There is a lot of uncertainty about what the Congress will do next year in 2012 to reduce the national debt.
In the beginning of next year financial service firms will now be forced to report to the IRA what exact purchase price was and what the sale price is. This means that when you are buying up on mutual funds and EFTs you have to decide before selling them what is the best reporting method, things like average cost or first shares acquired. Who will all this affect? Well, it is estimated that 44% of US households owned mutual funds in 2011. It is suggested to think about doing different cost basis methods for each sale.
Another thing to remember is that the IRS will prevent you from investing into the same or substantially identical investment for 30 days before and after a said loss. With the restrictions on what is right for you to buy and the detailed buying and selling reports it might be a good idea to take a loss in 2012 in a certain investment to keep from having to account for a certain amount of gain. There is much speculation when it comes to what is the best investment. I will put my two cents in and say be weary of how you’re trading in 2012 stick with something and stick it out to 2013.
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Financial News Reporting from 1-800LoanMart on Bonds
By Title Loans Master | December 8, 2011
In the past few years since the economic downfall in 2008 there have not been any real safe investments. By that I mean to say even investing in a savings bond you are more likely to have the up and down swings of the regular stock market.
President Obama reached a tax deal with the republicans that lead for the fall of the bond prices and the increase of the yields. Within a few months the bond went from an extreme low of 2.33% to 3.27% that sounds like a promising gain to me! But is it? The thing with investing in treasury is if our dollar steadily becomes worth less and they keep producing more. How do you make a safe investment? A lot of investors are switching from the safe treasury bonds to things like gold, silver and diamonds.
Having concluded, taking a huge risk in stock is a thing of the past. It is the right move to invest into something that will pay dividends and have a very small steady increase. I can’t just come out and tell you what to invest in you have to do the research and figure out what is best for you. But, when investing in treasury was a safe bet 4 years ago it might not be the right move going into 2012.
Trying to use money to make money is always a tuff decision. If you take a hit there goes all of your cash. But in most cases there are some still safe and easy investments to make; maybe you will put it in gold, maybe in oil. Before you go investing your nest egg make sure to do some research!
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Financial News Reporting from 1-800LoanMart on Oil Prices
By Title Loans Master | December 7, 2011
What really causes the price of gas to go up? Are we paying too much for oil and gas? Is the cost of oil ever going to go down? Based on the research here at News Reporting from 1-800LoanMart our sources say that there is plenty of crude oil. The real reason for the inflammation of gas prices is, in fact, due to speculators. Speculators add a 30% increase to the demand of oil that is projected to be needed.
The U.S. pays about $100 a barrel right now and they say in the next 25 years that will increase by 30%. So, for the time being the investors are charging prices that are way higher than they should be and they are blaming it on the demand for more crude. The fact of the matter is that we are paying too much for gas prices because of the large increase in gas consumption over the last ten years the speculators say we need to charge more now so the suppliers can find more later.
What part about all of this is opinion? Do we need to prepare for the future by paying more for gas now? A lot of this controversy has different points of views, like Maria Van Der Hoeven the head of the International Energy Agency. She says “The oil burden in 2011 is set to exceed 2008 levels.” She believes that the prices are alarmingly high. I tend to agree with this. If we are paying for the production of oil no for the future then what are prices going to be like in the future?
If you think you are paying too much for gas prices at the pump and in your home, be prepared to spend even more. News Reporting from 1-800LoanMart says prepare yourself for the things to come.
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