When a serious medical crisis occurs, your insurance company may provide more than hospital coverage. A growing number of plans offer specially trained case managers to help patients during a major illness. Different from disease-management programs, which focus on patients with a chronic condition such...
10 Things gas stations won’t tell you1. “Good luck finding the best deal.” When it comes to gas prices, most stations are branded—meaning the name of a major oil company hangs out front—and must buy gas from their proprietary company. They can’t shop around. With a lock on sales, the oil companies charge each station a different...
What you need to qualify for a refinance nowRates may be tantalizing, but be prepared to jump through many hoops. Refinance your mortgage now and you may capture the lowest interest rate of your lifetime. But unlike a couple of years ago, when it seemed all you needed was a pay stub (if that) and an eager mortgage broker, today’s process...
How falling home values can lower your taxesNew Tools Help Owners Get Reduced Valuations; Saving Big in New Jersey Kim Davidson lives in Bonita, Calif., a San Diego suburb hit hard by tumbling property values. Earlier this year, she made the best of a bad situation and appealed her tax assessment. The county reduced her annual tax bill by more...
8 ways to cut back without sacrificingWhen times are tight—as they are now for many Americans facing declining home values, depressed stocks, and tighter credit markets—cutting back on indulgences can seem inevitable. But it might not be. U.S. News asked budgeting experts for advice on how to make ends meet during tough times without...
Madoff’s NY beach home sells for more than $8.75MIt boasts ocean views, an infamous former owner — and now a buyer willing to pay more than $8.75 million. An unidentified buyer or buyers snapped up Bernard Madoff’s Long Island beach house within days after the U.S. Marshals Service put the seized property up for sale, a spokeswoman for the...
Washington, D.C. favorite area for wealthy youngWashington, D.C. has become the favorite area for wealthy young adults, with the nation’s highest percentage of 25-34 year-olds making more than $100,000 a year, according to a new analysis. Sixteen of the top 50 counties in the United States with the highest share of wealthy young people are in...
10 tips to live by if you want to keep your jobWhat’s triggering fears and sleepless nights for many of us about the unemployment abyss is not the job-loss stats themselves, but the depth of the cuts—and the qualifications of some of the people getting jettisoned. The questions we keep hearing are: Why do highly skilled, seemingly essential...
Best time to buy gadgets, furniture, and moreTiming is everything. To get the best deals, you’ve got to know when to shop. There are some purchases that are difficult to time perfectly, such as stocks, airplane tickets and gas. But many other consumer staples — from cars to electronics to furniture — go on sale predictably at...
FBI mortgage fraud probes grow to 2,600 casesThe Federal Bureau of Investigation’s caseload for mortgage fraud has continued to grow as homeowners cope with the shattered housing market, FBI Director Robert Mueller told the U.S. Congress on Wednesday. “The schemes have evolved with the changing economy, targeting vulnerable individuals,...