Pensions? Always someone else’s problem
Detroit's workers are not the first to see their retirement finances suddenly reduced – they are only the most recent
If a city declares bankruptcy and its current and retired workforce ranging from librarians and sanitation men to police officer and fire fighters are forced to take permanent reductions to their promised monthly pension benefits, will anyone care besides the impacted employees and the unlucky retired workers dependent on that income?
Thanks...Read more.
The McDonald’s Worker Budget And The Tyranny Of Personal Finance
A quick note about that McDonald’s budget for its employees published earlier this week by the website Think Progress …. There is a genre of personal finance writing I like to call “when rich people tell poor people how to live.” This is when, as I’ve reported in the past, you see men and women in ...Read more.Message to insurers: forget pit bulls, get tough on guns
Dogs might bite, guns might kill – yet insurers are tougher on dog owners when it comes to homeowners' insurance
When employees of American Family Insurance discovered earlier this year that Susie Salazar of Greeley, Colorado owned a pit bull, they did what company rules dictated: they cancelled her homeowner's policy. After all, they had done the same thing last year to Nebraska sheriff's deputy Andy Woodward, after they found out...Read more.
Message to insurers: forget pit bulls, get tough on guns
Dogs might bite, guns might kill – yet insurers are tougher on dog owners when it comes to homeowners' insurance
When employees of American Family Insurance discovered earlier this year that Susie Salazar of Greeley, Colorado owned a pit bull, they did what company rules dictated: they cancelled her homeowner's policy. After all, they had done the same thing last year to Nebraska sheriff's deputy Andy Woodward, after they found out...Read more.
Whose side is your financial adviser on, anyway? | Helaine Olen
Not everyone who gives financial advice in the US has a duty to actually help those who have no sense of their financial best interests
Does your financial adviser have a legal duty to give advice that's in your best interests? The chances are that you think the answer to this question is "yes."
Chances are, you're wrong.
Not everyone who gives you financial advice has a duty to actually help you. The...Read more.
Whose side is your financial adviser on, anyway? | Helaine Olen
Not everyone who gives financial advice in the US has a duty to actually help those who have no sense of their financial best interests
Does your financial adviser have a legal duty to give advice that's in your best interests? The chances are that you think the answer to this question is "yes."
Chances are, you're wrong.
Not everyone who gives you financial advice has a duty to actually help you. The...Read more.
Want to fix the US student loan crisis? Put colleges on the hook
Some colleges have higher default rates than graduation rates, proof that we should evaluate institutions' risk as well
The question of student loans is taking on an increasing urgency everywhere but Washington.
Rates on federally subsidized loans doubled to almost 7% on July 1, thanks to Congressional bickering and dithering. The latest attempt to roll back the rates failed to get out of the Senate earlier this week, when sponsoring...Read more.
Want to fix the US student loan crisis? Put colleges on the hook
Some colleges have higher default rates than graduation rates, proof that we should evaluate institutions' risk as well
The question of student loans is taking on an increasing urgency everywhere but Washington.
Rates on federally subsidized loans doubled to almost 7% on July 1, thanks to Congressional bickering and dithering. The latest attempt to roll back the rates failed to get out of the Senate earlier this week, when sponsoring...Read more.
CEOs and the rest of us: a tale of two economies
CEOs earn 273 times more than their employees – a pay disparity which is having an increasingly corrosive effect
Congratulations CEOs! You've been having a great time of it. Salaries are up, and up in a major way. The Economic Policy Institute says you brought home an average $14.1m in 2012. The New York Times, looking at slightly different numbers, claims the news is even better, saying the median...Read more.
CEOs and the rest of us: a tale of two economies
CEOs earn 273 times more than their employees – a pay disparity which is having an increasingly corrosive effect
Congratulations CEOs! You've been having a great time of it. Salaries are up, and up in a major way. The Economic Policy Institute says you brought home an average $14.1m in 2012. The New York Times, looking at slightly different numbers, claims the news is even better, saying the median...Read more.
About Helaine Olen
I am the voice of The Bills, a column about the intersection of money and life, at Slate. At Inc., I contribute to the Spread the Wealth personal finance column. My work on politics, economics, workplace culture and women’s issues has been published in numerous other print and on-line publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Salon, Pacific Standard, and The Los Angeles Times, where I wrote and edited the popular “Money Makeover” feature.
I'm the author of the critically acclaimed book Pound Foolish: Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry, and The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn’t Have to be so Complicated, which I co-wrote with Harold Pollack.
What else? I’m a passionate bibliophile, a fan of 1970s pop music and a lover of rummage sales. I live in New York City.
Read More...