Personal Finance Daily
MARCH 27, 2010
This week's top Personal Finance stories
By MarketWatch
In case you missed them, here are the top 10 Personal Finance stories from MarketWatch for the week of March 22-26:
What health reform means for you
No more worrying about lifetime limits on health coverage, about whether your insurer will dump you when you get sick, or about whether your adult child will be booted off your plan when he turns 18.
See Vital Signs.
Will bank-reform proposals work to protect consumers from future crises?
Far-reaching legislation aimed at overhauling the nation's financial-services regulatory system is moving forward in Congress, but advocates say some of the proposed consumer protections are too weak.
See full story.
Are retirees' health costs as steep as some say?
Firm after firm spews out reports about how you'll need hundreds of thousands of dollars to cover health-care expenses in retirement. Are those costs real or is this -- as some cynics suggest -- a ploy on the part of investment firms to gather assets and generate revenue?
See Robert Powell.
Your house can bring big breaks at tax time
A tax credit of up to $8,000 was a big incentive for first-time buyers to buy a house over the last couple of years, but a slew of other tax advantages will keep rewarding those new homeowners long after that money hits their bank accounts.
See TaxWatch.
Worker shortage coming as population ages: report
With millions of unemployed people across the country struggling to find work, it may seem unbelievable that there could be more jobs than workers to fill them in coming years, but a new report predicts exactly that.
See story on worker shortage coming as population ages.
Student borrowers get first aid from health-care bill
It will be years before many Americans figure out how they're impacted by the health-care bill signed into law this week by President Obama, and whether they actually benefit. But the law has an immediate potential payoff in my home.
See Chuck Jaffe.
How to climb the market's wall of worry
If you believe some market and media seers, truly the end is near for Mom, apple pie and the American way. Financial crisis in Europe. Health-care overhaul. China trade. Mounting U.S. debt. The specter of rising interest rates. Stocks must be running on fumes, given the Sisyphean challenges facing the planet.
See Weekend Investor.
What to do if you can't pay your taxes
If this year you're stuck with a tax bill rather than your usual refund, you're not alone. This year and next, more than 15 million taxpayers may find they unexpectedly owe Uncle Sam because they received more of the Making Work Pay tax credit than they were entitled to, according to a November report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
See TaxWatch.
Money may be tight, but homeowners are still investing in their great outdoors
Homeowners love their yards. They plant gardens, create cozy areas for entertaining, and install decorative elements that they're as happy to look at from the kitchen window as they are from their chaise lounge. And despite the weak economy, that love affair is expected to continue.
See Real Estate.
If you've got kids, it's time to make a will
With a new baby in the house, thinking about death isn't fun. But my husband and I have been planning for our demise because we want to make sure that if such an awful event occurs our six-month-old daughter, Eve, will be well provided for. As unpleasant as estate planning can be -- I really dislike reading the words "my last will and testament" -- it's better than leaving important decisions to a judge.
See Diary of a Recession Baby.
Reference: http://fgcbolsa.blogspot.com/2010/03/marketwatchpersonal-finance-daily.html
