Category Archives: Legislation That May Affect Your Net Worth
Can My Lender Do That?
What new credit card legislation means to you. With an incredulous tone, and seemingly out of the blue, the workshop participant does not even bother to raise her hand. “Can they really do that?” These are not ordinary times, and Trisha, our workshop participant, is merely vocalizing what everyone else was thinking—that it should be [...]
A new push for retirement savings
Some new and some renewed proposals are circulating congressional desks that hope to increase Americans’ participation in IRAs and retirement plans, the most significant of which is an automatic IRA enrollment. Employers that don’t offer retirement plans will be required to offer workers an option to have money automatically deducted from their paycheck and deposited [...]
Support the earthquake relief effort in Haiti and receive a tax deduction for yourself
This bill, titled H.R.4462 to accelerate the income tax benefits for charitable cash contributions for the relief of victims of the earthquake in Haiti (gotta love the names of these things) is on the President’s desk, ready for his signature. There doesn’t seem to be any objection to it, so the President is likely to sign [...]
Colorado Lawmakers Proposing to make Financial Literacy a Requirement for Kids
More encouraging news on the financial literacy legislation front, recent Colorado legislation that passed in 2008, Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids or CAP4K, is drafting new graduate requirements for preschool through 12th grade kids that include courses in personal finance. From the linked article: Part of the CAP4K includes the potential for five credits of [...]
Legislators to Cap Credit Card Interest Rates
New legislation was introduced yesterday that aims to put a cap on the fees ($15) and interest rates (16%) that credit card companies can charge their customers. Of course there’s going to be a lot of resistance from credit card companies, but is this really what we need? Wouldn’t an informed consumer be better able [...]