“Personal Finance: Blacks and the federal budget - Washington Post” plus 1 more |
| Personal Finance: Blacks and the federal budget - Washington Post Posted: As reported in the Chicago Sun Times, Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. also attacked Obama's budget. "How can we stop the Republican cuts when the president has one-upped them?" Jackson said in a statement. "As the president, he should be the last line of defense for the most vulnerable Americans, instead of the first one to cut." So what do you think of the President's proposed budget? Send your comments to colorofmoney@washpost.com. Put "Budget Blues" in the subject line. Race and the Recession Join me for "Behind the Headlines: A Discussion on Race and the Recession in Metro Washington." The free forum will be on Wed. Feb. 23 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at The Rennie Forum, Prince George's Community College, 301 Largo Rd., Upper Marlboro, Md. The panel will, among other things, look at how economic policies in Washington have affected African Americans. The forum will also examine the first of three public opinion polls on issues facing the black community, conducted by The Washington Post, the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University. I'll be moderating the discussion panel, which includes Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus; Michael A. Fletcher, a Washington Post national economics reporter; Jeff Johnson, a Black Entertainment Television journalist and motivational speaker; Dr. Julianne Malveaux, a noted economist and educator; Sophia A. Nelson, a contributor to The Root.com who also covers the White House for JET Magazine; and the Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network. To RSVP or to submit a question for the panel, please e-mail behindtheheadlines@washpost.com. For more details about the events, visit the Behind the Headlines Web site. Money In the Bank Debts are down. Savings are up. As the Post's Neil Irwin reports, The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reports that compared with the summer of 2008, when consumer debt peaked, Americans now have 7 percent less mortgage debt, 12 percent less in auto loans and 15 percent less credit card debt. Plus, Americans are now saving at nearly triple the rate they were between 2007 and 2009, setting aside 5.3 percent of their disposable income in December, according to the Commerce Department. Of course there are many cheering on consumers' newfound frugality. The hope is that it will benefit the economy because these debt-free consumers will have more money to spend. I just hope if people need to spend (notice I used the word "need," not "want"), they won't go back to their old ways and pile on the debt. Responses to 'Consorting With A Co-Worker' This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Personal finance: Can college be affordable? - Deseret News Posted: Published: Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2011 11:39 a.m. MST The trend seems scary for parents of high school or college students. Headlines have for several months blared that student debt is rising and may exceeds credit card debt in America. And proposals in the new Obama budget get rid of subsidies for some student grants and would see interest start accumulating before the ink dries on some loan document for graduate students, rather than being deferred, among other changes. But you don't have to mortgage the house and send the kids into servitude in order to secure a good college education, according to a story in Tuesday's Christian Science Monitor, which offers six tips courtesy of a senior art-history major at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, who is graduating debt-free. Zac Bissonnette, that senior, wrote "Debt-Free U: How I Paid for an Outstanding College Education Without Loans, Scholarships or Mooching Off My Parents." He's not the only optimist out there. There are, in fact, a number of tools available to help parents and students get a handle on college costs and debt, starting with this primer, offered by MSN.com And colleges and universities are concerned about student debt and the ability of students, especially those who are low-income, to access a quality college education. The Institute for College Access and Success, which sponsors the Project on Student Debt( projectonstudentdebt.org/pc_institution.php), offers some information on both what colleges and universities have tried to do to help and what the financial debt load has been for students at different institutions. "A number of colleges have developed financial aid policies that limit or eliminate student loans from financial aid packages, reducing costs for students and families. We have analyzed each of these programs and include information here for the programs that meet our guidelines," it noted of the "financial aid pledges to reduce student debt." A phone call to the Oakland, Calif.-based program found that the project is ongoing, but 2009 numbers are the most current ones available on that portion of the site. It is nevertheless a starting place to look at a capsule view of what has been occurring locally in terms of student debt accumulation. It's estimated that most students will attend college within 400 miles of home, so that matters. For instance, it says based on those 2009 numbers that a Utah graduating senior's average debt was $12,860 at four-year colleges and the proportion of college students with debt was 38 percent. You can see each state's breakdown here (projectonstudentdebt.org/state_by_state-data.php), including a drilled-down look at various institutions. Here's what it says about Utah(http://projectonstudentdebt.org/state_by_state-view2010.php?area=UT). This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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