Posts filed as “US personal finance”

NYU’s loans for summer homes highlights student debt injustice | Helaine Olen

Why is NYU loaning money to star academics to buy vacation homes, at a time when its students are struggling to pay?

As is quite well known to many who follow the student loan foibles, New York University has, as they say, some problems.

NYU is one of the most expensive undergraduate institutions in the United States. Tuition, room and board will cost more than $64,000 for the 2013-2014 year. Financial aid,...Read more.

Room service no more: why luxury is leaving the middle class behind | Helaine Olen

Hilton's pulling of room service in New York is another example of how middle income earners are losing access to life's luxuries

New York City's Hilton Hotels recently announced they would end room service this summer, offering customers instead a high-end food shop in the lobby.

That's right. For $200 a night plus taxes, you'll be expected to brown-bag it.

Think of this as one more demonstration of how services for the middle...Read more.

Room service no more: why luxury is leaving the middle class behind | Helaine Olen

Hilton's pulling of room service in New York is another example of how middle income earners are losing access to life's luxuries

New York City's Hilton Hotels recently announced they would end room service this summer, offering customers instead a high-end food shop in the lobby.

That's right. For $200 a night plus taxes, you'll be expected to brown-bag it.

Think of this as one more demonstration of how services for the middle...Read more.

American retail workers need more than $10 an hour

The more workers are earning low wages, the less likely the economy will reach escape velocity

The retail sector has been a star of recent jobs reports. May's numbers from the Department of Labor say it was responsible for adding 28,000 positions to the overall economy. It's on an upward trend – the monthly retail employment number has averaged 20,000 for the past year.

Considering one in nine Americans work in, for...Read more.

American retail workers need more than $10 an hour

The more workers are earning low wages, the less likely the economy will reach escape velocity

The retail sector has been a star of recent jobs reports. May's numbers from the Department of Labor say it was responsible for adding 28,000 positions to the overall economy. It's on an upward trend – the monthly retail employment number has averaged 20,000 for the past year.

Considering one in nine Americans work in, for...Read more.

Retirement savings: the million-dollar myth

Conventional wisdom in the 1990s told people saving $1m would be enough for retirement – today, that's not enough

When I got my start writing personal finance in the 1990s, it was conventional wisdom to tell people that if they could save and invest their way to $1m – via their 401(k) and other retirement accounts – their golden years would be a glorious event. They could travel, indulge in a hobby,...Read more.

Retirement savings: the million-dollar myth

Conventional wisdom in the 1990s told people saving $1m would be enough for retirement – today, that's not enough

When I got my start writing personal finance in the 1990s, it was conventional wisdom to tell people that if they could save and invest their way to $1m – via their 401(k) and other retirement accounts – their golden years would be a glorious event. They could travel, indulge in a hobby,...Read more.

Money makeovers: like placing Band-aids on deeper political wounds

Superficial tips and tools gloss over the main point – Americans have a political problem not a money management problem

When I sold the proposal that became Pound Foolish: Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry, the original subtitle was "How the Cult of Personal Finance Turned us Into a Nation of Dreamers." I didn't think of personal finance as a dark side vs a light side. I...Read more.

Money makeovers: like placing Band-aids on deeper political wounds

Superficial tips and tools gloss over the main point – Americans have a political problem not a money management problem

When I sold the proposal that became Pound Foolish: Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry, the original subtitle was "How the Cult of Personal Finance Turned us Into a Nation of Dreamers." I didn't think of personal finance as a dark side vs a light side. I...Read more.

Internships: why paying for experience is bad business

It's no longer enough to be willing to work for free – now you need to pay for the privilege of working for no salary

Psst. Want a job working for Miami Heat basketball star LeBron James? There's a nice internship in online marketing and another in content development currently being advertised on his website. If you are interested, you best get on it quick. Applications are due Tuesday.

Salary? Funny you...Read more.