Nov 19
Have you dreamt recently of taking that long awaited holiday cruise to the Greek Isles or that weekend getaway to the Bahamas? Or how about taking that African safari? Imagine sipping iced tea in the Sahara or touring the pyramids. A few of us have the luxury of being capable to afford these retreat “bonus”, but lots of of us naturally cannot afford the luxury. And how, you may ask, can a credit cards really assist in helping you decide that dream retreat? Believe it or not, a few of the good reward credit cards can aid you do it sooner than you might think.
Back in the 1980s, credit card companies started giving cash back rebates and rewards for cardholders who were most persistently using their cards. Airl
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Nov 18
The LATimes article: California approves new standards on energy-hungry TVs reports that television manufacturers who want to sell sets in California will need to rein in the power consumption of those sets by Jan. 1, 2011.
California moved today to crack down on the sale of energy-gobbling big-screen television sets that now account for about 10% of a typical household’s monthly power bill.
After nearly two years of study, the California Energy Commission voted 5-0 to approve the nation’s first efficiency regulations for TVs of up to 58 inches sold in the state.
The new standards for TVs, which take effect Jan.
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Nov 18
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When our pets get sick, we want to provide the best health care possible. But how do we do that if hospitalization, treatment and medication would cost about $3000? P
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Nov 18
Even as 401k’s tanked, home prices plummeted and jobs vanished, more than 50 million Americans went to sleep last year assured that at least one of their assets would still be there in the morning: their Social Security checks. 
Life before Social Security
No matter how precipitously the stock market fell, those monthly benefits — which averaged $1,155 for retired workers — always turned up. “Social Security is really the gold standard of retirement benefits,” says Nancy Altman, the author of “The Battle for Social Security: From FDR’s Vision to Bush’s Gamble.”
Although it might not have been apparent to recipients, the worst recession since World War II has trimmed Social Security’s finances.
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Nov 17
A new amendment to the U.S. bankruptcy code could help troubled financial institutions reorganize their debts more effectively and eliminate the status of “too big to fail” that has prompted government intervention over the past two years.
H.R. 3310, introduced by Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL), is called the Consumer Protection and Regulatory Enhancement Act, and would create a Chapter 14 bankruptcy under which institutions to file bankruptcy without disrupting the nation’s financial stability.
The bill is in response to the government’s inconsistent reaction to the collapses of financial holding companies such as Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and AIG.
At the American Bankruptcy Institute’s 2009 Legal Symposium in New York this week, Congressional staffer Daniel Flores spoke on a panel about the need for the new chapter, according to Reuters.
“No one trusts the bankruptcy bar and the courts.
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Nov 16
By Tara Perkins
With Sun Life’s (SLF) executives preparing to host an investor day in New York on Thursday, RBC Capital Markets analyst Andre-Philippe Hardy is telling clients to expect good news.
The investor day will focus on the insurer’s U.S. operations, and Mr. Hardy expects two key topics to be on the table: the potential for growth at the company’s U.S. asset-management unit, MFS Investment Management, and sunnier skies for the variable annuity business.
MFS’s net redemptions of retail funds fell to $400 million in the latest quarter, from $800 million a year ago.
In a note to clients Monday, Mr. Hardy s
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