Financial Crisis

Elizabeth Warren recently wrote a rather extraordinary piece on the hollowing of the American middle class and the need for a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). Consider the following: 1 in 5 Americans is unemployed or underemployed. 1 in 9 American families cannot make the minimum payment on their credit card. 1 in 8 mortgages are in default or foreclosure. 1 in 8 Americans is on food stamps. More than 120,000 American families are filing for bankruptcy every month. When adjusted for...

There is a great piece in the Wall Street Journal--in the form of a quiz--that reveals survey results on a range of questions related to retirement planning . Many of the questions and answers are eye opening. All questions are framed in the general context of the financial crisis and are intended to shed light on how pre-retirees' knowledge, views and plans have changed over the past couple of years. Well worth the read. Source: Wall Street Journal Full Story

Representative Darrell Issa has asked the New York Fed and AIG to provide related to the $14 billion Goldman Sachs received from U.S. taxpayers via AIG during the financial crisis. Representative Issa the ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. According to Issa: The payments may “amount to nothing less than a backdoor bailout of AIG’s creditors,” the California Republican said in the letters, citing an Oct. 27 Bloomberg article about the New...