Even though the economy is showing signs of improvement, they aren’t large signs, and unemployment remains stubbornly high. Additionally, some companies are still planning layoffs, and you never know when you might lose your job.

Unemployment benefits have been extended a few times in an effort to help those who are unable to find work. If you lose our job, unemployment benefits can help you through the tough times, but you do need to be aware of the requirements that might be placed upon you to qualify.

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When you hear about billionaire Warren Buffett paying a lower effective tax rate than his secretary, you’re hearing long term capital gains at work. The tax code smiles favorably on investment and the tax rate on capital gains of assets held for more than one year is much lower than ordinary income tax rates. If you own an asset for less than one year, you pay short term capital gains which mirror the rate of ordinary income tax.

Qualified dividends also enjoy favorable tax rates, with the income taxed at long term capital gains, which make them especially appealing to those on fixed income, such as retirees. As long as the dividend is considered a qualified dividend, you can enjoy the lower rates.

So what are the capital gains tax rates for 2012?

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The amount of collective student loan debt in America has surpassed $1 Trillion but to bring it closer to home, Finaid says that the rate of college tuition inflation is normally twice that of the regular inflation rate. That means that the cost of college will rise an average of 6% every year. Add to that the fact that wages for most Americans are stagnant, college is quickly becoming much like a home. American families cannot afford it without going in to debt.

How do you plan to pay for your child’s college education? Maybe a large portion of their tuition is covered by academic or athletic scholarships but for the average family, that isn’t the case. Needs based grants will only pay for a portion of the tuition making student loans a reality for many. A recent study by the Associated Press found that one out of every two college graduates either can’t find a job or they’re underemployed working in a field unrelated to their college major. This makes graduating with as little debt as possible a priority.

The 529 plan is the best answer to this problem. Although many plans used to allow for the purchase of years of college at today’s prices, most plans now work like a 401(k) where you invest money in to the plan and choose the mutual funds that fit your objectives. If you start contributing early, the tax advantages allow you to build up enough money to keep applying for student loans and many allow family and friends to contribute to the fund too.

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For many families, the recession still hasn’t ended. While “technically” the Great Recession has been over for years, practically speaking many families are still feeling the pinch. As a result, some are getting creative about the side businesses they are ready to start, as well as how they bring money into the family.

In some cases, this might include encouraging children to get summer jobs and help contribute to the family finances. Indeed, there are some families that ask kids to contribute to family finances in some way.

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Ryan at CashMoneyLife sent me press release in which TradeKing and Zecco announced a merger. I’ve long been a fan of TradeKing. Zecco… not so much.

I have nothing against Zecco because I’ve never used them but their history of changing their fee structure has been a little disconcerting. In the beginning, they offered free trades, which seemed unbelievable and made me wonder if Zecco was a scam (it wasn’t). Then they made it so that you needed a $25,000 balance in your account to get 10 free trades. Then… they stopped their free trade program entirely. They were moving further away from free trades and closer to a fee structure like TradeKing, but without TradeKing’s customer service record. Their weaker customer service marks are understandable, you can’t expect to get free trades and top notch service. You get what you pay for and with TradeKing you get great customer service at only $4.95 a trade.

I’m interested to see how the merger works out. Hopefully Zecco is merged into TradeKing and nothing changes about TradeKing.

Citizens Bank is the latest bank to reach a settlement for overdraft fees, a wave of settlements that started sometime last year. The Bank of America settlement and Fifth Third Bank settlement had previously been covered here. Citizens Bank, along with many other banks, was accused of reordering customers’ transactions in order to maximize overdraft fee revenue, a common tactic used a few years ago in order to increase fee revenue. Citizens Bank is the 13th bank to reach a settlement.

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As somebody who is in the financial advising field, I’m getting a little tired of hearing that all financial advisers are duping their clients out of a lot of money but what I’m far more tired of is the fact that in way too many cases, it’s true. You may have heard about the Goldman Sachs employee who quit by writing this op ed in the New York Times. To sum it up, he was tired of advisers being more concerned about profits than they were about doing what is best for their clients. Maybe the most embarrassing part was his claim that Goldman employees refer to their clients as “Muppets.”

Then there’s this article that spoke of a study where actors were hired to pose as average customers with one of four different types of portfolios. They visited 300 Boston area advisers and the large majority of advisers changed their portfolios to more fee laden options. Seriously?
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In recent months, there has been a lot of discussion about prepaid debit cards. From the introduction of Suze Orman’s prepaid debit card, to suggestions that you don’t need a bank account if you have a prepaid card, to a general push by issuers to encourage parents to use prepaid debit cards as learning tools, it seems like prepaid debit is everywhere.

But what is prepaid debit? And is it really a good idea?

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