Friday, May 28, 2010

“Lowden told to amend personal finance report - Las Vegas Review Journal” plus 3 more

“Lowden told to amend personal finance report - Las Vegas Review Journal” plus 3 more

Lowden told to amend personal finance report - Las Vegas Review Journal

Posted: 28 May 2010 08:32 AM PDT

It already had been amended once by her campaign, but in an April 26 letter to Lowden, the ethics panel said a review turned up other issues.

Two experts in financial disclosure who reviewed Lowden's report said the 18 omissions flagged by the ethics panel was unusually high.

"It may just be an issue of being sloppy, but that is hardly comforting," said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics.

Bill Allison, editorial director at the Sunlight Foundation, said, "It wouldn't surprise me if people make the occasional mistake, and especially people with complex finances. But the number here and some of the omissions are a little bit surprising."

Lowden's campaign said the request for clarification was routine and understandable for a first-time federal candidate who has complicated finances.

Spokeswoman Crystal Feldman said a new amendment to the December report was faxed to the Senate on Wednesday.

A copy was not available Thursday night, and Feldman had no more information about it. She said the campaign would release it today .

"We have full disclosure on everything," she said.

All members of Congress and candidates for federal office are required to file reports of their personal finances annually.

Lowden's report showed she and her husband, Paul, have assets of more than $50 million, the largest being in shares of Archon Corp., their publicly held casino company.

The Ethics Committee flagged several items:

■ The Lowdens own stock in 23 companies, but the report omitted the value of shares held in Delphi Corp., an auto parts supplier, and Motors Liquidation Company, formerly General Motors.

■ The report failed to disclose the dates when the Lowdens took out mortgages of more than a million dollars each for properties in Las Vegas and California and an equity line of credit from Bank of America.

■ The report omitted the assets that make up the couple's 401(k) accounts. Paul Lowden holds a 401(k) worth between $100,000 and $250,000, and Sue Lowden has one with assets of between $50,000 and $100,000.

■ The committee asked for more detail on when Sue Lowden obtained board positions at Archon subsidiaries and whether she drew compensation in the posts.

Lowden, other Senate candidates and incumbent Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., were required to submit a new financial report by May 17. Lowden requested and received a 45-day extension.

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@reviewjournal.com or 202-783-1760.

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Dave Ramsey: Personal Finance - State Journal-Register

Posted: 28 May 2010 02:41 AM PDT

Dear Dave: How do you feel about mortgage accelerator plans? Can you please explain them? — Doug

Dear Doug: Basically, there are two types of mortgage accelerator plans floating around out there. First, there's the old bi-weekly mortgage where you make half of a payment every two weeks. This will drop the length of time you'll pay on a 30-year mortgage down to about 22 years. Most companies will charge a fee to service these programs, but I think that's ridiculous. There's no way I'd pay someone to do this for me.

Think about it. There are 26 two-week periods in a year, and 26 half payments equals 13 whole payments. So, you're making an extra payment each year. That's why your mortgage gets paid off early. You can accomplish the same thing by writing a check for the principal only once a year. If you want to get really detailed, you can do the same thing each month by writing a check for one-twelfth of a payment.

The other kind of mortgage accelerator plan out there is a total rip-off. I'm talking about one where some companies will try to sell you a $3,500-piece of software tied in with a home equity line of credit, or HELOC. These things are often called money merge accounts. In this situation, you pay your bills out of the HELOC, and your paychecks are deposited against the HELOC. Then, they'll apply whatever's left against your mortgage, and it "magically" pays off your mortgage faster.

The problem is that no matter how many times you move the shell, the pea is still underneath. Whether you use a HELOC or just a yellow pad to make a budget, if you want to make extra principal payments on your first mortgage, you have to live on less than you make. And there's no way I'm paying some rip-off company $3,500 for the privilege. Talk about stupid! You can do that on your own by making a decision to sit down every month with a pen and a piece of paper and write out your own monthly budget.

Now you know why I'm not a big fan of mortgage accelerator plans you have to buy. Here's the truth, Doug. There's no easy, magical formula when it comes to getting out of debt. It takes a lot of hard work and discipline. You can accelerate your own early mortgage payoff by living on less than you make and learning to control the person you see in the mirror every day. —Dave

Leave something in the account

Dear Dave: If I understand your budget plan, we're supposed to allocate every dollar toward something. If we did that, it would leave our account balance at zero. What do you do if your bank requires you to maintain a minimum balance in your account and charges you a service fee if you don't? — Kristina

Dear Kristina: I think you misunderstood my plan. When doing a monthly budget, you should allocate every single dollar of monthly income, not every dollar in your account.

Your monthly budget should be based on income minus outgo. You always want to have a balance of some kind in your accounts. Otherwise, you'll end up paying a visit to the land of bounced checks, kiddo. And that's not fun for anyone except the bank, because they'll charge you for the trip. —Dave

For more financial help, please visit daveramsey.com.
 

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Small National Bank for Sale - PRLog (free press release)

Posted: 28 May 2010 12:14 PM PDT

PR Log (Press Release) – May 28, 2010 – Small National Bank for Sale. Small National Bank for Sale. Management in place.  Growth potential. For around $5 M get 51% of the bank with an option to purchase the rest.

Great time to enter into banking. Contact for this and other great investment opportunity.Business Credit Funding is Knowledge Management portal for, Business, Financial, Personal Finance, Banking, Real Estate, World Business, Deals, M&A, Private Equity LBO, Banks M&A, Expert Opinion, Consulting, Mortgage information. BCF is part of Credit Capital Funding. Credit Capital Funding is an alternative asset management and advisory firm with a focus on equity investments in middle-market companies and real estate that hold significant opportunities to create value.

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Lattes or London? Little choices add up on fixed ... - Seattle Post Intelligencer

Posted: 28 May 2010 12:43 PM PDT

Americans cut spending in 2009, but so far this year their outlays for little pleasures like gourmet coffee to go are on the rise according to Mint.com,the online personal finance site.

By looking into the anonymized records of its users, Mint.com ascertained that its average San Francisco user spent $358 on gourmet brews in 2009 and is spending an average of $30 per month so far in 2010.

And San Franciscans were frugal compared to caffeine aficionados in other cities on Mint's top coffee-spending towns (all figures per person/per year for 2009):

  • Seattle - $674 (per person/per year)

  • Las Vegas - $391

  • Portland - $388

  • San Antonio - $377

  • San Jose - $366

  • Tucson - $362

  • San Francisco - $358

  • Denver - $354

  • Phoenix - $352

  • Dallas - $314

    But here's a question: is what's good for the barista good for the consumer? Would fewer lattes underwrite a ticket to London while the dollar is strong relative to European currencies?

    As California and the nation slowly emerge from the Great Recession, we should re-evaluate the habits that have helped push us beyond our means. As the refrigerator magnet at home joking reminds me: "Latte is French for, 'You paid too much for that coffee!'."

    - Posted by Tom Abate

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