How to Make Federal Student Loans Affordable

Click here

The U.S. government is investigating possible collusion among major airlines to limit available seats, which keeps airfares high, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press. The civil antitrust investigation by the Justice Department appears to focus on whether airlines illegally signaled to each other how quickly they would add new flights, routes and extra seats. A letter received Tuesday by major U.S. carriers demands copies of all communications the airlines had with each other, Wall Street analysts and major shareholders about their plans for passenger-carrying capacity, or "the undesirability of your company or any other airline increasing capacity." The Justice Department asked each airline for its passenger-carrying capacity both by region, and overall, since January 2010. 'Unlawful Coordination' Justice Department spokeswoman Emily Pierce confirmed that the department is looking into potential "unlawful coordination" among some airlines. She declined to comment further or say which airlines are being investigated. On a day when the overall stock market was up, stocks of the major U.S. airlines ended the day down 1 to 3 percent on news of the investigation. American Airlines (AAL), Delta Air Lines (DAL), Southwest Airlines (LUV) and United Airlines (UAL) all said they received a letter and are complying. Several smaller carriers, including JetBlue Airways (JBLU) and Frontier Airlines, said they hadn't been contacted by the government. The airlines publicly discussed capacity early last month in Miami at the International Air Transport Association's annual meeting. After hearing about that meeting, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., requested a Justice Department investigation.

Read More

What Retirement Without Savings Looks Like

Click here

In a perfect world, the perfect retirement is where life begins. But for people like Debra Leigh Scott, there's the very bleak possibility that retirement is where life might end. "Suicide is my retirement plan," Scott, a 60-year-old adjunct professor, said in an interview with Vitae. "Unless you have a spouse or partner, you're looking at dire poverty in old age. In addition to poverty, you're looking at getting no additional work because of your age, or you're looking at dropping dead in the classroom." View all Courses Scott, a divorced mother of two grown children, has been teaching for over a quarter century but never received the tenured position she hoped for. After years of financial struggles -- including the loss of a home -- she has no money saved for retirement. Fewer Americans than ever before are adequately prepared financially to retire. In a survey this year by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and Greenwald & Associates, 28 percent said they have less than $1,000 in savings and investments poised for retirement. A 2014 Federal Reserve survey paints a more discouraging picture: 31 percent of non-retired respondents have zero retirement savings -- 19 percent of them ages 55 to 64. Scott's story is a real-life reminder that paints a painful portrait most people would rather avoid. With their golden years well ahead of them, many people assume there will be enough money stored up to retire without a hitch. And they don't even want to think about considering the alternative. But for many adults behind on retirement savings, they might be unaware of the realities of retiring without enough money in the bank.

Read More

Medical Bills? Tips to Protect Yourself Until Laws Improve

Click here

The Medical Debt Relief Act of 2015 would strengthen federal laws to better protect the credit of consumers hounded by medical-debt collectors. The proposed legislation would remove repaid medical debts from credit reports within 45 days of the debts being paid off. Rep. John Carney, a Democrat from Delaware, and Rep. Andy Barr, a Republican from Kentucky, introduced the bill last month, but it is "a long way from passage," CBS News reports today. It isn't unusual for disputes with providers and insurers to take months before they are resolved. Consumers who wait to pay their bill until the matter is resolved may see their lack of payment result in a negative notation on their credit report. Barr said shortly afterward: "Too many Americans face costly and unexpected medical bills. They should not have to endure the additional burden of years of bad credit due to an illness, injury, or even an inaccurate medical billing." Until and unless the bill is passed and adopted into law, consumers can take certain actions to better protect themselves. Christina LaMontagne, general manager of health at NerdWallet, tells CBS News they include: Confirm whether heath care providers are in your insurance network before every visit and get it in writing if possible. "The majority of people who call us with bills that are $5,000 or more have had some sort of in-network/out-of-network complication," LaMontagne says. Ask providers for estimates of planned procedures and how much of the cost would be covered by your insurance company. Compare prices. "Our research shows that pricing can vary widely for the same procedures," LaMontagne says. Verify that medical bills are correct before paying them to avoid paying for errors. For help understanding medical bills, check out "Is Your Doctor Overcharging You?"

Read More

Can You Really Ignore the Obamacare Penalty?

Click here

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, has been controversial ever since it was first proposed. One of the most contentious issues over Obamacare is the individual mandate, which requires Americans to have qualifying health insurance coverage to avoid owing a penalty. Yet some have asserted that taxpayers don't have to worry about Obamacare penalties because of limitations in the law that created it, and even the IRS has noted that it doesn't have as much recourse to collect unpaid penalty amounts as it does for traditional income tax collections. Let's take a closer look at the Obamacare penalty provisions with an eye toward figuring out the truth about whether you have to pay a penalty or not. When You Might Have to Pay Obamacare Penalties Penalties under Obamacare, which the law refers to as "shared responsibility payments," kick in if you don't have the required minimum essential coverage and don't qualify for an exemption. Exemptions are available in 2015 for those for whom the cost of health insurance would be more than 8.05 percent of their household income, as well as those who are homeless, have had their homes foreclosed upon, have filed for bankruptcy, have substantial unpaid medical bills, or have suffered the death of a close family member. A few other exemptions apply, including victims of domestic violence, those who've gone through a natural disaster, and those who are caring for eligible family members and have had to pay higher costs as a result. If you don't have coverage and an exemption doesn't apply, then the base penalty for 2015 is $325 an adult and $162.50 a child up to a family maximum of $975. However, if your income is high enough so that 2 percent of the amount of income above the tax filing threshold is greater than the base penalty, then you'll owe the higher amount.

Read More

Is American Faith in Banks Finally on the Mend?

Wounds of the Great Recession are slow to heal when it comes to confidence in the banking industry. Gallup recently released results of a phone survey that found that only 26 percent of Americans have "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in banks. The number is the same as last year, but higher than the historical low of 21 percent in 2012. This doesn't mean that three-quarters of Americans are keeping their money under their mattress. Gallup also found that an additional 43 percent had "some" confidence in banks, while 28 percent had "very little" and 2 percent had "no" confidence. Banks, like other large institutions, have taken a big hit in confidence in recent years, but still rank in the middle of the 17 institutions about which Gallup collects opinions. Banks did best in 1979, the first year Gallup started asking the question, when 60 percent of Americans had confidence in banks. It dropped to 30 percent in 1991 during the height of the savings and loan crisis. From there it drifted up to 53 percent in 2004, but fell off a cliff during the Great Recession, bottoming out in 2012. A person's politics seem to be a factor. Gallup found the Republicans are most likely to have confidence in banks, at 35 percent, followed by Democrats at 27 percent and independents at 25 percent. Similarly, 39 percent of people who are generally satisfied with the way things are going are confident in banks. But only 24 percent of those generally unsatisfied are confident. The phone survey of 1,527 adults was taken June 2-7 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. What's your level of confidence in banks? What about other financial institutions, such as credit unions? Share your opinion with us in comments below or on our Facebook page.

Read More

6 Sneaky Summer Expenses to Avoid

Click here

Summer is the time kick back, relax and just take things easy for a few months. While this means you may be feeling a little lax with your budget, you don't have to waste those hard-earned dollars on frivolous purchases and expenses that can easily be avoided. Even if you aren't tracking your spending on a daily basis, there are some things you can do to be more mindful about your spending habits and make better money decisions all season long. Whether you're enjoying some vacation time this summer or just working your way through those hot summer days, here are six sneaky summer expenses you can avoid. 1. Excessive toll charges. You may be relying on your GPS to provide you with the shortest route and turn-by-turn directions to your final destination, but make sure you aren't required to pay a lot of toll fees along the way. Consider taking an alternative route -- even if the trip takes slightly longer -- so you don't end up paying extra money in toll charges on a single trip. Factor in the extra cost of gas on the alternate route if needed so you really are saving money on the total cost of that drive. View all Courses 2. Car rental insurance. If you're planning a road trip but don't want to put miles on your own car or you end up needing a rental car when you're on vacation, don't add more to the cost of your trip by purchasing rental car insurance. Almost all major credit card companies offer car rental insurance coverage as a benefit to cardholders -- regardless of their balance. Check with your credit card provider to find out if it offers car rental insurance and also check with your insurance company to see if car rentals are included in your coverage. In many cases, your car insurance will provide primary coverage and the credit card will take care of secondary coverage, such as towing charges and other fees.

Read More

Match muscle men

Bank has provided IMPS services to our customers through NPCI for remitting funds to and receiving funds from other bank account holders. Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) is an instant real-time interbank electronic fund transfer service through mobile phones. It facilitates customers to use mobile phone as a channel for remitting funds to accounts in other banks. The pre-requisite for fund transfer through IMPS is remitter has to register for Mobile Baking services.

Read More