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50 Depressing Facts About The Healthcare System That Will Make You Beg For Reform

Right now, healthcare reform is the subject of a fierce partisan debate in Washington DC.

There's a reason for this: The US healthcare system is really messed up. It needs fixing.

Recognizing this doesn't need to be partisan.

Sure, Democrats, Republicans, and libertarians may have vastly different ideas of how to fix the system, and no compromise may be possible, but there is a lot to be depressed about.

1. America spends $7,290 per capita on health care… Continue

Added by HeadofTheBoard.Com on March 10, 2010 at 1:30pm — No Comments

BofA to end all overdraft fees on debit cards

Customers will just be declined; could be start of a trend among big banks

Bank of America customers will soon be unable to spend more than they have in the accounts linked to their debit cards. It's a step that may become a common move ahead of new regulations limiting overdraft fees.

Rules set by the Federal Reserve that will ban banks from charging such fees, without first getting permission from the customer, are set to take effect July 1.

But B… Continue

Added by HeadofTheBoard.Com on March 10, 2010 at 12:30pm — No Comments

43% have less than $10k for retirement

The percentage of American workers with virtually no retirement savings grew for the third straight year, according to a survey released Tuesday. The percentage of workers who said they have less than $10,000 in savings grew to 43% in 2010, from 39% in 2009, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute's annual Retirement Confidence Survey. That excludes the value of primary homes and defined-benefit pension plans. Workers who said they had less than $1,000 jumped to 27%, from 20% in 2… Continue

Added by HeadofTheBoard.Com on March 9, 2010 at 7:01pm — No Comments

Buffett's tips for new investors

It happened during the dot-com bubble, when Buffett was mocked for refusing to join the party. And it happened again last year. As the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) tumbled below 7,000, Buffett came under fire for having jumped into the crisis too early and too boldly, making big bets on Goldman Sachs (GS, news, msgs) and General Electric (GE, news, msgs) during the fall of 2008, and urging the public to plunge into shares.
Now it's time for those critics to sit down for their t… Continue

Added by HeadofTheBoard.Com on March 6, 2010 at 8:30pm — No Comments

How Much is a Gold Medal Really Worth?

The 2010 Winter Olympics are over, with the final United States medal count coming in at 9 Gold, 15 Silver, and 13 Bronze. That's a total of 37 medals making their way back here to the States in the hands of our worthy athletes, and although the sentiment… Continue

Added by HeadofTheBoard.Com on March 3, 2010 at 1:04am — No Comments

$238 billion loss for U.S. mail; Saturday delivery may end

Snail mail might soon get even slower.

The cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service announced Tuesday that it will incur about $238 billion in losses in the next 10 years if Congress doesn't permit it to revamp its outdated business model.

The agency is proposing an adjusted mail service schedule, which will likely cut Saturday delivery, and eliminating its prepaid retiree health b… Continue

Added by HeadofTheBoard.Com on March 2, 2010 at 2:30pm — No Comments

Gatorade Drops Tiger Woods

Add Gatorade to the list of endorsement deals that Tiger Woods has lost. A spokesperson for the drink, sold by PepsiCo Inc., confirmed late Friday that it had ended its relationship with the golfer. "We no longer see a role for Tiger in our marketing efforts and have ended our relationship," a Gatorade spokeswoman said. "We wish him all the best." The spokewoman said Gatorade would continue its relationship with the Tiger Woods Foundation. Gatorade discontinued its Tiger Woods-brand drinks i… Continue

Added by HeadofTheBoard.Com on March 1, 2010 at 3:32pm — No Comments

eTextbooks Could Finally End The Great College Bookstore Extortion Scheme

The growth of e-textbooks may finally spell the end of an extortion scheme that has infuriated college students (and their parents) forever: Sky-high prices on textbooks that students are forced to buy to avoid flunking out. Widespread adoption of e-textbooks is still a ways off, because current e-reader technology leaves much to be desired when it comes to reading and studying textbooks. However, significant discounts on e-textbooks by publishers should accelerate the use of e-textbooks on co… Continue

Added by HeadofTheBoard.Com on February 26, 2010 at 4:35pm — No Comments

Is The Stock Market for suckers???

I wanted to respond to Tom Hawks comments. Someone i respect a lot, but who i disagree vehemently on this topic.

Tom I stand by what I said. You can have as long a term horizon as you want, but like most other long term plans we have, most peoples lives dont match up to their “horizons”. Its amazing how life intervenes. Kids, whatever. its a fortunate few that can just shell it away and never touch it. Your “horizon” hits a dead end when you have to put money into a checking account.

… Continue

Added by HeadofTheBoard.Com on February 25, 2010 at 9:30pm — No Comments

5 new tax breaks you don't want to miss

Tax season is upon us. And while nobody likes shelling out their hard-earned dollars to the IRS, this year the government is offering up some new opportunities that could save you big money.

As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or stimulus bill, Congress introduced several new tax goodies that could help millions of Americans save -- as long as they know to claim them.

"The purpose of these credits is to give back the maximum amount of money to taxpayers s… Continue

Added by HeadofTheBoard.Com on February 25, 2010 at 12:00pm — No Comments

Five Rules To Consider Before Taking the Plunge Into Stocks

When we think about investing, most people think stocks. But the truth of the matter is, the majority of investors aren't trading stocks on a day to day basis. They've put their money in the hands of mutual funds: baskets of investments with managers who do the bulk of the work for them. It's one of the most efficient ways to invest because you automatically have your hand in hundreds of different investments. When one bottoms out, the logic goes, the others are there to pick up the slack. But… Continue

Added by HeadofTheBoard.Com on February 24, 2010 at 12:39pm — No Comments

Mark Cuban's - How to Get Rich Part 1A

I wrote a post a while back about How to Get Rich. The no shortcuts version. It is posted below. I wanted to repost it because its been so popular in the archives. Plus, with the advent of some new banking laws, I wanted to update it with a quick note.

On July 1, laws for banks change so that they can not charge you overdraft fees UNLESS YOU OPT – IN. In other words, if you want your bank to give you cash at an ATM, or cover a debit charge on your debit card when there isn’t enough mo… Continue

Added by HeadofTheBoard.Com on February 24, 2010 at 12:30pm — No Comments

My favorite question to ask in interview

Good Morning, The job interview is an unusual situation: You're put in a room you've never been in, with a person you've never met, to talk about a company you don't work at, in order to persuade somebody that you'll be excellent at a job you don't have. No wonder it feels awkward, artificial and anxious. But a lot of the "mystery" around great job interviewing comes from the fact that we don't do it that often. Every few years, we're supposed to magically dust off our interview skills and go… Continue

Added by HeadofTheBoard.Com on February 22, 2010 at 7:39pm — No Comments

Personal Finance Minute: Avoid Job-Search Scams

Looking for a job these days is already stressful enough. MarketWatch Personal Finance Editor Andrea Coombes explains how job seekers can steer clear of being burned by unscrupulous firms that advertise job opportunities. Continue

Added by HeadofTheBoard.Com on February 22, 2010 at 5:08am — No Comments

The math on mortgage relief

How lenders decide whether to modify your mortgage Question: As one of the 160,000-plus people waiting in the pipeline to apply for a mortgage reduction at the same lender mentioned in your recent [newspaper] column, I was greatly puzzled by one point in your article: "If you show negative cash flow, your application will be denied, period." Isn't having a negative cash flow the reason for needing such a reduction? As in losing a job or a business whereby you temporarily cannot cover the cost… Continue

Added by HeadofTheBoard.Com on February 19, 2010 at 3:28pm — 1 Comment

Questions to Ask After 'I Will' but Before 'I Do'

All over the country today -- Valentine's Day -- men are down on bended knee proposing marriage. They will speak of love and affection and devotion. Few, however, will mention what really matters: money. Crass, maybe. But true nonetheless. When you think about it, couples don't fight over love. They fight over money. They fight because one person didn't balance the checkbook or made a bone-headed investment without consulting the other. They fight because one partner exerts dictatorial control… Continue

Added by HeadofTheBoard.Com on February 19, 2010 at 2:28pm — No Comments

The Curse of the Class of 2009

The bad news for this spring's college graduates is that they're entering the toughest labor market in at least 25 years. The worse news: Even those who land jobs will likely suffer lower wages for a decade or more compared to those lucky enough to graduate in better times, studies show. Andrew Friedson graduated last year from the University of Maryland with a degree in government and politics and a stint as student-body president on his résumé. After working on Barack Obama's presidential ca… Continue

Added by HeadofTheBoard.Com on February 19, 2010 at 2:26pm — No Comments

White House touts job creation on stimulus anniversary

Two million jobs have been saved or created due to the stimulus act signed into law by President Barack Obama a year ago, the White House said Tuesday as it marks the anniversary of the $787 billion spending package. "Jobs have been created thanks to tens of thousands of projects now underway nationwide," Vice President Joe Biden wrote to Obama in a 31-page progress report about the stimulus. Biden said the act is laying groundwork for "the economy of the next century," as the U.S. invests in h… Continue

Added by HeadofTheBoard.Com on February 18, 2010 at 4:49pm — No Comments

The job application black hole

Ever applied to a job online only to have your résumé seemingly vanish into a void? From crafting a winning cover letter to acing an interview, landing a job is tough enough in this market. But millions of job seekers can't even get a foot in the door as they apply to countless positions and seldom hear anything in response. "I've been looking since September. I send out résumés and nobody answers me," said Vicki LaVista, 56, a former executive assistant who has not had any luck on the job hun… Continue

Added by HeadofTheBoard.Com on February 18, 2010 at 4:22pm — No Comments

Colleges cut back on generous financial aid

The college admissions process is already a crapshoot without throwing in the financial aid game. Subsidized Stafford loans, unsubsidized Stafford loans, Pell Grants, DirectPLUS loans — it all adds up to a bewildering tangle for which families of prospective students a… Continue

Added by HeadofTheBoard.Com on February 17, 2010 at 12:51pm — No Comments