Uncle Sam Wants to Know: Did You Have Debt Forgiven?

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uncle sam

April 15th is right around the corner and that means, it’s time to pay up. For many Americans 2011 was another year of unemployment, rising costs, and underwater mortgages. In fact according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Americans owe a combined $11.5 trillion on credit cards, car loans, mortgages and other consumer debt. So in a desperate attempt to keep their finances afloat many have turned to settling their debts. Settling a debt is certainly damaging to your credit, but to make matters worse, Uncle Sam wants his take as well. If you have a debt forgiven [...] Read more »

Do You Trust Me?

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shop

“Unless Vonnie wants to go along to the mall with me…” our friend’s voice trailed off. Sure, I’ll go. I can look for a spring coat for Tori,” said my wife. A new spring coat for our daughter was in the budget, as previously discussed while planning our spending for that weekend. The coat was actually the final expenditure for the weekend as it drew to a close that Sunday afternoon. In a whirlwind of activity, I got ready to go to the gym, Vonnie and her friend put on shoes, grabbed their purses and headed out door with my [...] Read more »

The Danger of Listening to the Crowd

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Doctor in

Thanks to Brad for finding this article in the Palm Beach Post, “Why are Americans avoiding stocks? Ask a Shrink”. Since the market drop in 1987, people have been focused on the market bottom instead of the top. In general, news focuses on the negative and the financial news of the past decade has lived down to expectations. But the reality of both short and long term market performance shows a different picture. Since the fall of 2007 and 2008, the major market indices are up and dramatically. The two year returns for domestic large, mid, and small cap stocks, [...] Read more »

Battle of the Sexes, Over Debt?

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mom & kids

In today’s world women are no longer “just staying home” to raise their children. I say “just staying home” as anyone that is a stay at home parent knows that raising children is one of the most difficult jobs you will ever have. Many women are both working full-time and raising their children out of necessity for their family. Whether you are married with kids, divorced with kids or widowed with kids it’s a tough dual role to play, for either parent. As a divorced single mom I know the challenges of going it alone and the debt that goes [...] Read more »

The $57 Jar Of Candy

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Fundraiser 005

Imagine a large glass jar filled to the top with your favorite kind of candy. How much would you pay for it? $10? $20? How about $57? This past weekend, Vonnie and I attended a benefit for her aunt who was recently diagnosed with cancer. There was a wonderful outpouring of support from the community through donations of items to sell in a silent auction. Vonnie, being her usual rock star self, visited business throughout our community and accumulated a dozen or so items to contribute to the auction. We also put together a basket of items we personally donated, [...] Read more »

Is Debt Really Slavery?

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Debt is slavery

Hello! My name is Bobbie Bushman and I am the newest contributor to Enemy of Debt. I found Enemy of Debt a couple of weeks ago and I loved it right away because I felt they were doing something that not many other websites are doing. They are telling you the truth about debt, how it can trap you, and how becoming debt free can change your life for the better. Since I knew I was going to be writing for this site, I starting thinking about what I wanted to say. One thing I say a lot in my [...] Read more »

The Lost Subject: Personal Finance

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Never to young to learn how to handle a credit card slip

Were you taught about money and personal finance when you were in school? I wasn’t. Even today personal finance is not taught in most schools or considered a curriculum requirement for college students. How do we expect today’s youth to stop the vicious cycle of debt if we don’t teach them how? The latest report from the Federal Reserve shows that consumers are still using their credit cards in a big way; revolving credit, which is made up primarily of credit card debt rose to $801.0 billion. It’s obvious the cycle continues as millions of Americans rack up debt and [...] Read more »

Hidden Expenses That Impact Retirement

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Anthem Healthcare sent me an advertisement for their health insurance and priced it on a daily basis. “Now just $1.58 per day!” Naturally, that rate didn’t apply to me but to a hypothetical 35 year old “healthy” male. Surely their comprehensive database could have sent the quote for me as a 50 year old. In any case, you don’t pay insurance daily. That $1.58 day rate is paid at $47.40 per month or almost $600 per year, which for health insurance is pretty inexpensive. I called and my daily rate would be $5.04 per day or $151 per month or [...] Read more »