6
Getting Personal
Getting Personal
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My Custom Home Building business took a severe blow from the housing slump and Hurricane Ike last year and I am left with a large amount of credit card debt that is serverly past due/delinquent. I had to get a job to maintain my income and take care of personal and housing expenses. FEMA and SBA have declined to provide any financial assistance because of my delinquent credit and my low credit score. How can I get a boost or get re-start-up financing or assistance?
Regarding the couple who were co-habitating and were thinking about opening a joint account - a better solution might be purchasing accounting software such as Quicken or MS Money. This gives them the ability to keep separate accounts, and allocate expenditures precisely. Plus the added bonus of being able to download transaction activity and create and monitor a household budget. A great tool that could easily pay for itself.
Regarding the couple who were co-habitating and were thinking about opening a joint account - a better solution might be purchasing accounting software such as Quicken or MS Money. This gives them the ability to keep separate accounts, and allocate expenditures precisely. Plus the added bonus of being able to download transaction activity and create and monitor a household budget. A great tool that could easily pay for itself.
10/17/09
Your caller's inquiry about finding disability insurance to cover maternity expenses bugged me. It seems that she misunderstands the genuine purpose of insurance, whereby group contributions accumulate to allay financial consequences resulting from the misfortunes of a few. She and her husband are planning on the personal rewards of childrearing while seeking to have others pay for it. Intentionally adding to their family is not a misfortune. However, the travesty we call health care in this country is deficient in maternity care as well as in so many other aspects of health. So, I would be less annoyed if I knew your caller was reading a book such as T.R. Reid's THE HEALING OF AMERICA, and that she and her husband were actively doing what they can to assure some sort of universal coverage for all the people of our society ... including decent maternity care, instead of only trying to game the current awful "system."
Dear MM;
Huge omission in your segment on FDIC insurance: even FDIC banks and similarly insured credit unions offer many investment products which are NOT federally insured.
Your guest left us with the impression that our money is protected because we have deposited (or invested??) at the bank.
Every time I need any service at my bank or credit union, they are likely to offer me an investment product, such as an annuity or a Ginny Mae bond, which I suspect are not federally insured. Correct?
I feel that you owe your listeners an addendum to last weeks report on FDIC safety. Thanks!
Michael Kauper
Turner & Kauper Child Care
Minneapolis, MN
Your answers to the young lady considering purchase of a DI policy to cover maternity leave were partly correct in that most of these policies do have a 90 day or greater elim period. They are after all designed for the long term. Also she should not be pregnant when applying. Here is where you fell short- this is a typical example of anti-selection, against the insurance company. It is clear a claim is expected to be filed so better get some coverage. Presumeably the policy will be dropped after the claim is paid. Since individuals now have the choice when to apply this is why insurance companies need to select whom they will insure. If everyone waits until they have a reason to expect that a health issue will take place, pay a couple of premiums and then drop the policy,where will the money come from to pay any claims? And yes, pregnancy and maternity leaves have been treated like any other illness since the early days of gender equality. In the current health insurance for all debate, the only way this can work is for all people to be insured, and pay the premiums. Individuals cannot pick and choose when to be insured. DI coverage is not in the category of health insurance but the principles remain the same.
