News

2019

October

18

• Zombie debts are hounding struggling Americans. Tens of thousands of people have received demands to repay alleged overpayments of government benefits – often decades old – plunging them into a Kafkaesque struggle against a faceless bureaucracy.

• Congress: Pay off student loans this way. The College Affordability Act, new legislation which was introduced by House Democrats and would update the Higher Education Act of 1965, offers a simple promise: combat the rising cost of tuition and increase federal student aid

17

• How to stop the abuse of location data. First, apps on mobile devices should not be allowed to ask for location data unless they offer the user a clear service that depends on that data. Second, a new privacy law must require greater

• New bill threatens jail time for companies that misuse consumer data. The Mind Your Own Business Act, threatens to put top executives behind bars for up to 20 years if their companies are caught lying to authorities about having misused Americans' personal information. The legislation by Oregon

• United has a new tool to help you make tight connections. United Airline says its tool ConnectionSaver has saved 50,000 missed flights. The ConnectionSaver tool uses new technology that automatically flags flights that can be held for connections and sends text messages to travelers with directions to

• How to make sure a used car is safe. Buying a used car is always a bit risky.  You don’t know how that vehicle was driven or maintained. It could be subject to an “open” recall — a safety

• Chipotle offers free tutition to retain workers. Chipotle pledged to cover upfront the tuition costs for 75 types of business and technology degrees — including programs at the University of Arizona, Southern New Hampshire University and Wilmington University — for employees who have

16

• Turf war blocked CFPB from fixing student loan forgiveness program. Starting early last year, the nation's most powerful consumer protection agency sent examiners into companies that run student loan call centers to try to fix a troubled loan forgiveness program. But the Department of

15

• Medicare open enrollment starts Oct. 15. Do a checkup on your coverage. For many people, the Medicare open-enrollment process can be confusing with its alphabet plans.

• Medicaid work requirements cost millions, achieve nothing. This may have been overlooked in the torrent of recent news about the Trump administration’s assault on government norms, but its initiative to impose work requirements on Medicaid enrollees has had a tough

• Is using credit card rewards to pay off your student loans a good deal?. Student loan giant Sallie Mae SLM, +0.59%  is now offering three credit cards designed for the collegiate set — including one that lets people use their cash-back rewards to pay off student loans. But for

• Reconsidering advice in 3 popular personal finance books. In times of economic stress, it is good to know the basics of personal finance. Many people turn to books for help, so we decided to go back and review three of the most popular

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• The should-be solution to the student debt problem. Income-driven repayment programs cover eight million borrowers, but they could be helping more if they were simpler and reached the people who needed them.

• Five financial moves all gig economy workers should make. As a gig worker, retirement savings are only one of the benefits that you are missing out on. For that reason, you need to be even more proactive with your money.

• Why are people sleeping in stacked pods?. Space-maximizing pod housing makes up a tiny part of the city’s overall housing mix, but it quietly is popping up in neighborhoods all around Los Angeles (and other big cities) right now. In

13

• Is it worth paying for the annual credit card fee? Depends on your lifestyle (Chinese). 若想省錢，支付信用卡年費看來似乎有悖常理，但在某些情況下可能值得；CreditCards.com產業分析師洛斯曼(Ted Rossman)表示，評估申請需付年費的信用卡是否值得，將取決於是否符合你的生活方式。

11

• Common retiree scams. As baby boomers prepare for the biggest wealth transfer in history, the vultures are circling. This is no surprise, given that nearly half of Americans age 65 or older manage their finances on their own, according

• Safe steps to take when buying a used car. Buying a car is one of the biggest purchases you'll make, so you don't want to pay any more than you have to.

• Americans would give up vacation for help with student loans. 63% of job seekers with student loan debt said they would give up PTO in exchange for help paying off student loan debt, according to a new survey by job marketplace ZipRecruiter.

10

• A judge calls Betsy DeVos to account. On Monday, federal judge Sallie Kim lost patience with what can only be described as the Education Department’s foot-dragging on carrying out an order to stop collecting on loans made to former students