Herea are some provisions that take effect in February 2010 Must give 45 days notice before raising interest rates. Must apply payments to the highest interest rate balance first. Minors (i.e., under 21) must have a cosigner or prove they have sufficient income/assets.  Credit limit cannot be increased without cosigner approval. Consumers will need to [...]

When a company offers a defined benefit pension (i.e., one of those pensions whose benefits is based on years of service and ending salary), it has to pay an insurance premium each year to the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC), a federal corporation formed under ERISA.  The PBGC steps in to continue pension payments in [...]

It is nice to see Schwab has finally followed Fidelity in cutting the fees for its basic index funds. Schwab Equity Index Fund Expense ratio Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund (SWPPX) 0.09% Schwab Total Stock Market Index Fund®(SWTSX) 0.09% Schwab 1000 Index Fund® (SNXFX) 0.29% Schwab Small-Cap Index Fund® (SWSSX) 0.19% Schwab International Index Fund®(SWISX) 0.19% Source: Lower [...]

On Monday, May 11th postage rates are increasing.  This means any mail dropped off after the last pick up this weekend will be charged the new rate.  First class letter postage will be increasing from $0.42 to $0.44.  If you have forever stamps, they will be still be good at the new rate (hence the [...]