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Checking parents' financial health
As you've watched your savings accounts shrink, have you given any thought to how the 2-1/2 year market slide and depressed interest rates have affected your parents' retirement nest egg?
By EILEEN ALT POWELL / AP Business Writer
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| SPECIAL REPORT: NET WORTH |
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Market downturn forces online investors, brokerages to adapt
Recent years have seen stock trading, banking, credit card applications, insurance and loan shopping gain major footholds with Internet users. But online investing, which roared into the new century as a killer application for the Internet, lately has slumped like a dog on the Dow.
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Chips and dips: SOX crunch
Hope for a recovery in the nation's technology stocks has disappeared. That's what SOX - the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index - is telling the stock market.
By Bob Fernandez / Inquirer Staff Writer
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Low rates tempt, but don't lose your head
Jeff Brown | Yesterday, the Mortgage Bankers Association of America reported the 30-year rate had fallen to an average of 5.99 percent from 6.16 percent a week earlier. This is a four-decade low. The 15-year fixed-rate loan fell to 5.4 percent, a record.
By Jeff Brown / Inquirer Columnist
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How long will it take to get back to even?
Q. I've heard some commentators warning that after the stock market crash that began in 1929, it took investors 25 years to get back to even. Is that correct?
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Doctoring sales price is fraudulent
Q:Last year, my wife and I sold our home. The sales contract we signed was $10,000 below our asking price. But then I was told by our realty agent we would be returning $10,000 to the buyers for ``upgrades.'' Then I asked what price would be used to calculate the sales commission and what amount would be reported on the county records. The answer to both questions was the full asking price.
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Hunt for college aid takes diligence
Q. My daughter is a high school senior and has begun the daunting task of applying for college scholarships. Where can I get information on scholarships that aren't well known, and what's the best way to approach this task?
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How much protection does FDIC provide?
Given the continuing gyrations of the stock market, many people are grabbing their money and fleeing to the safety of bank deposit accounts.
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By MICHELLE SINGLETARY,
Columnist,
10/11/2002 08:51 AM PDT)
What's all your 'stuff' really worth?
Did you know that there are more than 35,000 self-storage facilities in this country? Americans have so much stuff that our houses and garages are overflowing to the point that we have to rent extra space. I know someone who rented space in a self-storage facility because she ran out of closets to hang her clothes.
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BY MICHELLE SINGLETARY,
Columnist,
10/09/2002 09:42 AM PDT)
How marketing may influence prescriptions
Getting a prescription was once as familiar as opening your mouth and saying, "Ahhhh." Now it's much more complicated. For one thing, with all the expensive new drugs on the market, it's often hard to weigh the costs against the benefits.
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By JEFF GELLES,
Philadelphia Inquirer,
10/09/2002 09:38 AM PDT)
Most holiday shoppers plan to spend the same or less, survey finds
U.S. retailers could get a lump of coal from consumers this holiday season if survey results from a New York research firm are any reflection of the mood of shoppers.
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BY SCOTT CARLSON,
Knight Ridder Newspapers,
10/09/2002 08:43 AM PDT)
No foreign refuge
Although investors generally are urged to hold international mutual funds as a buffer against U.S. stock market problems, the strategy has proven to be folly once again.
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By GAIL MARKSJARVIS,
St. Paul Pioneer Press,
10/08/2002 12:10 PM PDT)
Get facts before selling house without a Realtor
Question: My grandmother passed away a year ago, and her estate has been equally divided among her six children - except for the house. They are trying to save money by selling without a broker, but the house has been on the market for two months with no offers at the $192,500 asking price. The children are fighting, and I'd like to make suggestions. What should we do?
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By JEFF BROWN,
Philadelphia Inquirer,
10/08/2002 12:07 PM PDT)
Dividends attractive again
Dividend-paying stocks are back in favor as investors, weary of the sagging market, want something they can take to the bank. Dividends are a portion of a company's earnings paid in cash to shareholders on a regular basis, generally every quarter.
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By Linda Loyd,
Inquirer Staff Writer,
10/08/2002 12:05 PM PDT)
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