The Sun's Financial Diary

Nothing hurts more than actually shelling out cash to prepare taxes. Except, that is, shelling out cash to pay taxes. If you do happen to opt for the prior, you’re in good company. Many of us choose to employ the assistance of a professional to help whittle down what we owe to Uncle Sam. Fortunately, [...]

At first glance, the idea of a prepaid debit card seems like a good one. You load a certain amount of cash onto a card and use it like you would an ordinary debit card. It works great for younger folks too who don’t need to be tempted by the idea of free credit. They [...]

Much of what you read about debt settlement tells you to stay away from it, that settlement is only a scam. However, debt settlement is a legitimate way to get rid of bad debt. Thanks to a new Federal regulation for debt relief companies, debt settlement companies have a harder time scamming consumers. What is [...]

As people continue to turn their backs on volatile investment strategies, life insurance as a vehicle for securing one’s financial future has become a popular topic, and several opinions can be found in favor of or against it. The problem with most of these opinions, other than the fact that many of them are biased, [...]

I mentioned early in my Credit Karma, Quizzle and Credit Sesame comparison post that the strength of Credit Sesame, the latest provider of free credit score, is in the home loan area. Because Credit Sesame has a large database of mortgage providers, it’s able to run through thousands of scenarios and find the best offers [...]

The earthquake and tsunami that have devastated much of Japan recently have emphasized the importance of disaster preparedness.  The 9.0 earthquake that rocked the Far Eastern nation and spurred the deadly tsunami waves has left thousands of people dead and far more still unaccounted for.  The subsequent nuclear power plant crisis resulting from the earthquake [...]

Bank accounts with good rates and low minimum balance requirements are hard to find these days. In my early post on current savings account rates, I listed a bunch of popular high-yield savings accounts and their current rates, and as you can see, all of them are in the low 1% range. Nothing exciting if [...]

The mortgage industry says it’s dishonest, irresponsible, dishonorable, and even anti-social. They term it as unscrupulous behavior. What could they be referring to? They’re referencing the latest phenomenon of homeowners walking away from their underwater mortgages. What’s an Underwater Mortgage? Well, that has become a pretty common occurrence these days with the debacle that has [...]