The drug maker Pfizer said Wednesday that it was recalling packets of birth control pills because some had been packaged incorrectly, potentially causing women to take an inadequate dose and possibly become pregnant. The recall involves about a million packets, although only about 30 may actually have been affected, the ...
A few weeks ago, I wrote about Suze Orman’s entrance into the prepaid debit card business with something called the Approved Card. In that piece, I asked her whether she thought the viewers of her CNBC show would be troubled by her making money off their everyday transactions. Would they ...
Yana Paskova for The New York Times Yasho Lahiri, a lawyer who advises institutional investors, said investors would be better protected with more disclosures than by their wealth. But it has broader implications. Should the United States government be deciding what people can do with their money? And how do ...
THE authorities have fallen silent lately about a possible settlement over foreclosure abuses at big mortgage servicing companies. The talks began in earnest last March, and people keep whispering that a deal is nigh. But last week, a spokesman for Shaun Donovan, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development and ...
Carl Richards is a certified financial planner in Park City, Utah. His sketches are archived here on the Bucks blog. His new book, “The Behavior Gap,” will be out in January. For 2012, I have a challenge for you: make financial decisions on purpose. Too much of what we do ...
Patrick Murphy-Racey for The New York Times Pete DeBusk, who founded a medical device company, DeRoyal Industries, is the main benefactor of Lincoln Memorial University. “A lot of people talk about Appalachia,” he says, “but how many people do anything for it?” THE library at the Duncan School of Law may ...
THE rental market’s strength may be enticing some buyers to look at multifamily properties, but qualifying for a mortgage on rental units is often more difficult than on a single-family residence. Borrowers should be prepared to gather more documentation, and the interest rate and required down payment will very likely ...
FINANCIAL markets are transfixed by events in Europe, and no wonder. The euro zone is under severe stress. A breakup could make recent volatility look like a day at the beach. Whether the latest agreement of European leaders brings a final resolution to the euro crisis won’t be clear for ...
WASHINGTON — The White House has undertaken an extraordinary push this week to promote the confirmation of a director for the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, despite signs that Senate Republicans will not budge from their vow to block any nomination to the post unless Democrats agree to overhaul the ...
WITH most lenders requiring home buyers to put down at least 20 percent — and sometimes, with more expensive properties, an even greater amount — the best holiday gift some people might receive would be help with the down payment. Under federal tax law, each individual is permitted to give ...
WHILE I’m no professional event planner, I do play one in my personal life. Or at least on occasion, like last Saturday when my younger son had his bar mitzvah. I learned a great deal from my first son’s bar mitzvah three years ago, which careful readers of this column ...
In March 2008, about nine months after he bought a steel-processing business, Precision Steel Services in Warren, Mich., for some $750,000, Shailesh Kumar went to two banks in search of a $350,000 loan. He wanted to expand the business and pay off a $290,000 debt he had with the seller, ...
As stock markets continue on their roller-coaster ride, even investors who profess to be buy-and-hold types have become eager users of mobile technology that allows them to track their portfolios almost on a minute-by-minute basis. That tendency, apparently, goes double for private banking clients, who investment managers say demand more ...
Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times LOOKING TO BUY Steve and Logan Kinney, two teachers who live in Queens, are saving as best they can. LIKE many young married people, Steve and Logan Kinney dream of owning a home. So after several years of diligent saving, the couple, both teachers, scoured ...
Laura Pedrick for The New York Times A Wal-Mart Money Center in Dickson City, Pa. The Money Center charges 1 percent to cash a check under $300, and $3 to cash a check from $300 to $1,000. DICKSON CITY, Pa. — Americans say they are fed up with banks. They ...
IT’S come to this. For day-to-day guidance on the likely direction of American stocks, there’s an unlikely contrarian indicator: the battered Greek bond. “You’ve got to keep your eyes on Greece, if for no other reason than that everyone else is,” said Richard Bernstein, formerly the chief investment strategist at ...
WHEN you add everything up, closing costs can increase the price of a home by as much as $10,000, sometimes more. Those who are cash-poor can ask relatives for help. But some lenders advertise another option: If borrowers agree to accept a mortgage interest rate from a quarter to a ...
