If you’re looking for a subscription to the Wall Street Journal, the financial paper of record, the U.S. Prime Rate has a great deal for those interested in subscribing.

Here’s the press release they recently issued:

PHILADELPHIA, PA–(Marketwire – September 29, 2009) – The United States Prime Rate website at www.FedPrimeRate.com is now offering discount subscriptions to the Wall Street Journal.

“We’ve added lots of new content, including new blogs and charts,” said content manager Steve Brown. “We’re excited to offer website visitors the best possible pricing for the Wall Street Journal®. It’s very widely accepted as America’s premier business and finance newspaper. As a source of first-class journalism covering the world of business and the global economy, the Journal is a vital staple in the information diet of knowledge-hungry individuals all over the world, and from all walks of life. It’s an indispensable resource.”

New subscribers can get access to the online version of the Wall Street Journal for $1.99 per week. Those who are interested in receiving the print version alone can get the Journal delivered six days per week at $2.29 per week. A third discount subscription option is to get both the print and online versions of the Journal at $2.99 per week.

The FedPrimeRate.com website also features discounts for subscriptions to the online and/or print editions of Barron’s Magazine and Investor’s Business Daily (IBD).

Recently, a graph which compares the target fed funds rate to the U.S. Prime Rate, the one-month LIBOR rate and the three-month LIBOR rate was added to the site. It’s a fascinating and telling chart which essentially chronicles the history of the global credit crisis. As numerous banks in the industrialized world were failing as a result of exposure to toxic debt, the Federal Reserve aggressively cut short-term rates to record-low levels. Commercial banks, on the other hand, responded to the same financial havoc by raising rates on unsecured, short-term interbank loans, because the risk associated with such loans increased dramatically. The resultant and precipitous decline in interbank lending produced a domino effect which led to a chocking off of lending to businesses and consumers in the U.S. and other developed nations.

About FedPrimeRate.com

The website at www.FedPrimeRate.com is the Internet’s premier information space dedicated to interest rates and personal finance.

The United States Prime Rate website added a new feature which discuses life insurance for those that do not want to pass or would otherwise be unable to pass a medical exam.

Here’s the press release:

PHILADELPHIA, PA–(Marketwire – June 20, 2010) –  The United States Prime Rate website at www.FedPrimeRate.com now features an in depth, engaging and exceptionally robust webpage dedicated to no medical exam life insurance.

“The addition of a life insurance information page is a natural step forward for us as we pursue our goal of being the most useful and unique finance site on the Internet,” said content manager Steve Brown. ”Our new life insurance page is very unique. It’s not just a bunch of dry content about life insurance. We’ve included highly instructive, real-world stories related to life insurance, stories that anyone can relate to. There’s also a rich and carefully crafted life insurance frequently asked questions section which will be expanded indefinitely.”

FedPrimeRate.com is already the Internet authority on the United States Prime Rate, LIBOR and other key market rates like the benchmark fed funds target rate. Establish in 2005, FedPrimeRate.com has expanded considerably over the last five years to include blogs about car insurance, consumer and business credit cards, and interest rates. The site also has in-depth information about controversial loan products like online payday loans. Other popular features on the site include an impressive number of detailed and regularly updated charts, a U.S. Prime Rate frequently asked questions page and an entire section dedicated to housing and foreclosures.

Consumers with dependents know how important it is to have life insurance. However, many aren’t comfortable with the idea of dealing with pushy insurance salesmen or having a paramedical visit their home to draw blood. No medical exam term life insurance is very popular due to the simplicity of the application process, and, of course, because the premiums are very affordable when compared to other life products like whole, variable, universal, permanent and hybrid plans.

“We like and respect other finance-related websites like BankRate. Our mission, however, is to provide web surfers with the most unique and useful finance-related info that they simply won’t be able to find anywhere else. We’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished over the last five years, and we have no plans on slowing down,” added Brown.

About FedPrimeRate.com
The website at FedPrimeRate.com is the Internet’s premier information space dedicated to interest rates and personal finance.

The United States Prime Rate website has issued a press release discussing the status of small business credit cards. The press release mentions how small business credit cards are changing given recent the financial reform legislation which worked its way through congress ans was recently signed by President Obama as well as the recent wave of bank foreclosures.

Here’s the press release:

PHILADEPLHIA, PA–(Marketwire – July 15, 2010) –  The United States Prime Rate website at www.FedPrimeRate.com is now recommending small business credit cards on offer in the American market.

“We’re really glad to see business credit cards coming back,” said Steve Brown, content manager at FedPrimeRate.com. ”Small business owners all across America have been struggling to get access to loans as banks continue to hoard cash. Though the American economy is growing again, the banking sector is still hurting, with many banks still facing closure by the FDIC.”

To date, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has closed 90 banks in 2010, which, so far, is a faster pace of bank closures when compared to 2009. Between the beginning of 2009 and July 17, 2009, the FDIC closed 57 banks. The FDIC closed a total of 139 banks during all of 2009. Another troubling fact: unnumbered banks across the country are defaulting on their TARP payments.

“We like the new Ink line of business credit cards from Chase because they offer great rates, reasonable terms and conditions, and they have a very strong bank behind them,” continued Brown. ”Chase is on an extremely short list of banks that emerged from the banking crisis virtually unscathed. We believe that a bank as strong and responsible as Chase has the financial strength and corporate culture necessary to provide some of the most consumer and business-owner friendly credit products around.”

Many factors have contributed to banks scaling back on lending to small businesses. Since the subprime mortgage-inspired financial crisis unfolded two years ago, banks have had to operate within a powerfully negative economic environment: a severe banking crisis, a devastating recession, rising unemployment and defaults, disinflation and the very real threat of deflation. As a result, the credit card industry contracted sharply. Another major factor: the market for credit-card receivables completely dried up. During the credit boom years, banks would bundle up all kinds of credit-card debt, including business-credit card debt, and sell this debt to investors on Wall Street — very similar to the way mortgages were packaged and sold to investors. Credit-card securitization contributed much to the ready flow of credit to all types of consumers and businesses, as banks were more than happy to pass the risk associated with unsecured debt onto Wall Street. However, the fate of this market was to become another domino felled by one of the many financial shockwaves created by the subprime-mortgage crisis. Business credit cards became so risky and unprofitable for banks that many business card accounts were either closed or had their credit lines severely limited.

Advanta, a company that specialized in small business credit cards, closed all of its card accounts on May 30, 2009. Advanta Corporation filed for bankruptcy relief in November, 2009. The FDIC closed Advanta Bank Corporation in March of 2010.

Chase emerged from the global banking crisis and subsequent Great Recession as one of America’s strongest and most resilient banks.

“Have you seen how complicated it is to get a Small Business Administration loan?” quipped Brown. ”Business credit cards are not just a great way to get quick and easy access to short-term financing. Small businesses owners can benefit from the rewards programs that come with many business cards, and they can also stay more organized with monthly and yearly expense reports that many business credit card issuers provide. A business credit card also helps a business build its credit rating, making it more likely to get approved for a traditional bank loan in the future.”

The typical small business owner who uses a business credit card for short-term financing is a responsible borrower. According to the Federal Reserve, less than 20% of small business credit card holders carry a balance.

About FedPrimeRate.com
The website at FedPrimeRate.com is the Internet’s premier information space dedicated to interest rates and finance.

Saving money for your retirement is a very smart investment for your future and the money should be left to compound and grow until you reach retirement age. Sometimes things happen and you may need to tap into your retirement funds earlier than planned. This is not a good option (most of the time), and really should only be done when there are no other options available to you.

Hardship Withdrawals

Due to the current economic conditions, more people are raiding their retirement funds claiming “hardship”, which is only granted for specific reasons, according to the IRS guidelines. Hardship withdrawals of retirement funds may sometimes be taken to prevent foreclosure or for unreimbursed medical expenses. Some companies have tougher limits for these withdrawals than others.

There is also an opportunity cost when you withdraw from your funds for the reason of a hardship. This means that if you withdrew the money in this way, you will be unable to contribute to your 401(k) for six months. Not only can you not contribute to it, but your company won’t be able to either, so that “free” money you may be getting by them matching or giving a percent to you will be gone.

Penalties and Income Tax for Early Withdrawals

You should not use your retirement funds before you reach retirement age, because it can have penalties, you may have to pay taxes on it, can’t contribute to it again for six months, and you’ll lose a big asset for your future.

When you take money out of your retirement funds, depending on the tax bracket you are in, you could have to pay a penalty and income taxes on the whole amount you withdrew. Another major concern is that if you are under 59 and a half years old, you will have to pay a ten percent early withdrawal penalty fee.

Retirement is Protected from Bankruptcy

Another big reason to not withdraw money from your retirement funds is that it is an asset that if you file for bankruptcy, is untouchable by collectors. Federal law is able to protect your 401(k) assets from creditors, so this is one area that you do not want to lose money from, especially if you are possibly thinking about going bankrupt in the future.

With all of the drawbacks and penalties for withdrawing money from your retirement fund, taking money out of this fund is not a good idea, even if you really need it. Before thinking about touching that money, exhaust all other loans and areas of possible help first. Only take money out if you can’t get it anywhere else and see absolutely no other option.

No matter how much you save or how early you start, there is a good chance you will not reach the total amount to foot a college tuition bill. The majority of people will never be able to save four year’s worth of college expenses but there are resources that can help bridge the gap. In 2009, more than $168 billion in financial aid was provided to families for college and graduate school costs. An additional $11.9 billion was borrowed from private investors or state sources.

If you are unsure what you need to do to get the rest of the cash necessary to pay for college tuition, here are some options to consider:

Grants/Scholarships
Grants and scholarships are usually the best option for college funding because the money is typically tax-free and students do not need to repay the money. The federal Pell Grant is geared towards low-income families. Currently for the 2010-2011 academic year, the Pell Gran is offering a maximum grant in the amount of $5,550 per student. Each year the grant amount does change based on available funding within the program. There is also the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant given out by colleges to students based on need. Currently, undergraduates can receive up to $5,500 and graduate students can receive up to $8,000 per year. To get this type of grant, most students must work part time jobs as part of the work-study program to provide additional financial assistance. 

Scholarships are widely available through a number of resources including high schools, colleges, community groups, employers, businesses, and philanthropists. Students should check in with their high school guidance counselor or their college admissions office for more information and resources for finding scholarships and other grants.

Loans
There are two basic categories of loans. First, there are need-based loans made for families that can not afford the costs of college. There are also non-need based loans that are meant to help families fill in the holes in their college savings amounts. These families may not have cash on hand but do have assets.

Two of the most common loans for college are both federally funded. The Perkins loan is available directly to students who will start repaying the loan nine months after graduating or leave school. Students have 10 years to pay the loan in full. Interest does not accrue on the loan until repayment begins and is set at a low rate, currently 5%.  The eligibility for the Perkins loan is determined by the financial aid office of the school. Students can borrow up to $5,500 per year with a total limit of $27,500. Graduate students can borrow up to $8,000 per year and up to $60,000 cumulative.

Another loan that is popular is the Stafford which is federally subsidized. The Stafford loan does not accrue interest until six months after a student has graduated or leaves school. A student can borrow more money the longer they stay in school Starting in their freshman year, a student can borrow up to $3,500 and $5,500 after junior year.

Investors often find it incredibly difficult to stomach the ability of their assets to rapidly reduce in value whilst the debt required to buy them in the first place continues to take a long time to reduce.

Just recently this unpalatable financial reality was witnessed again in a report compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. This regional Reserve Bank acting alongside the Board of Governors in Washington D.C. created the first of a series of quarterly 30 or so page publications focussed on household credit and debt. This 38 page laid out the bare facts indicating the as a nation the U.S. consumer remains in a very weak position now more than three years after the recession started.

Debt elimination for most has been very slow and painful, albeit people have made positive, strong efforts towards reducing the money owed to their creditors.

As an example, during 30^th June total consumer debts amounted to $11.7 trillion, only 6.5% below a peak in the third quarter of 2008. Open credit card accounts had become much reduced, by 23.2%, from the all time highs witnessed during 2008’s second quarter. Mortgage rates also fell during this time, by 6.4% from what was a peak just under two years ago.

Despite people cutting back heavily, consumers are still very much in the vice-like hold of this recession. In 2010, by around June 11.4% of outstanding consumer debt was seen to be delinquent, $986 billion of which was considered at serious levels of debt – still having not been paid at 90 days and counting. Although balances are down by roughly 3% with regard to delinquencies from the same period last year, delinquencies that were serious rose a little by 3.1%.

Yet more worrying statistics could be found from the ‘Fed’. The period between 31^st March to 30^th June saw half a million people with foreclosure having been added to their credit reports. This amounted to an increase of 8.7% over 2010’s first quarter. Consumer bankruptcies also rose in this first quarter by 34% to 621,000. From what the Fed recorded over the last few years bankruptcies had taken a significant rise.

The unemployment rate is higher than it’s been in more than 26 years. If you’re not already laid off, you may be concerned that your job isn’t as stable as you’d like. Most of the time, you can’t prevent being laid off, but there are some things you can do after you get laid off to help you until you find a new job:

Don’t Burn Bridges

You’re probably going to be angry or upset if you lose your job. The stress can sometimes cause people to freak out and maybe even fight or yell with their boss. Don’t burn bridges with your employer – they will be giving you references when you apply for new jobs and you want them to remain on your side. There’s always a possibility circumstances will change and your employer could bring you back to work, too, but you can be sure that won’t happen if you cause a scene when you’re laid off.

File for Unemployment Benefits

Even if you think you won’t be unemployed for long, make sure you file for unemployment benefits. Usually you can do this online or by phone. File as soon as you are laid off, since receiving benefits can take several weeks. If you happen to land a new job before then, even better.

Prepare Your Resume

Make sure your resume is updated to include the skills and experience you’ve gained from your most recent employer. Update the entire resume as it is the key to getting interviews with potential new employers. Make sure it’s a reflection of who you are as a person and your abilities as an employee.

Apply for New Work

Don’t just sit back and collect unemployment, hoping someone will come to you with a job offer. The increased number of people unemployed means higher competition for every job opening. Start applying. Use job search sites like careerbuilder.com, and your local newspaper. Apply to anything you are qualified to do. If there are particular companies you would like to work for, check their website to see if they have any job openings advertised on it. Many times, they will list job openings on their website long before they advertise them on job search sites or the newspaper, so you increase your chances of being hired if you apply to them early.
Reduce Living Expenses

Even with unemployment pay, you’ll want to make every effort to reduce your living expenses until you are employed again. Turn off or reduce your cable television package, avoid eating in restaurants or getting take out, avoid using credit cards or taking on new debt. The more you do to live within your means, the better you’ll be once you’re employed again.

The mortgage loan process can be difficult to understand because there are many components and a lot of money involved. You really can’t afford to make a mistake when securing a loan because it can end up costing you a lot more cash than you bargained for when you dreamed of owning a home.

Borrowers have options to help save money on a mortgage. You may have heard about points when discussing mortgage loans. Many people are confused about the topic but buying points can actually lower your interest rate throughout the course of your loan. Buying points isn’t realistic for everyone and you should weigh your options before making a decision.

What Are Mortgage Points?

Buying points on a mortgage means you are paying upfront a percentage of the loan at the time of closing. For those who choose to buy points, the interest rate of the loan is reduced. With the lowered rate, the amount of the monthly mortgage payment is less for the borrower. The more points you buy, the lower rates and payments become.

Points are based on the amount of the loan you are seeking and not the sales price of the home you are buying. For each point you purchase, it equals 1% of the loan amount. For instance, if the home you are looking to buy costs $300,000, the amount of each point would be $3000.  For each point purchased, the interest rate will be reduced by a quarter of the percentage point in most scenarios. However, you should note that point amounts will be different amount lenders and be influenced by the bond market. Generally, consumers will pay for half of a point up to 4 or 5 points towards their mortgage.

Making a Decision

There must be a pro and con list devised to decide whether buying points makes sense for you. If you know you are going to be in your home for a long time, buying points makes sense because you will end up saving a lot of cash over the long haul. If you plan to sell or refinance in 2-3 years, buying points has no benefits for you.

Is It Affordable?

Your home purchase may be the biggest investment you make in your lifetime and new homebuyers will have a lot of other expenses to consider outside of mortgage points. From the initial down payment to the costs for moving, it may not be financial reasonable to put out more money towards point buying. You’ll need to tally how much your expenses for closing and moving will cost before making a decision to buy points upfront.

People often refer to owing large amounts of money as being “crippling”, and if you have severe debt problems the word may certainly not be an exaggeration. Crippling debt can be just that, an all-consuming and controlling event that takes complete control over people’s lives if they do not seek out debt solutions.

One option that many people turn to when severe debt problems strike is to ignore it, this way they do not have too concern themselves and worry about what may happen if they do not resolve the situation.

Of course unplugging the phone, nailing up the letterbox, and never answering your door may stop you receiving news that you do not wish to hear, but in the end someone will come to your door you cannot ignore, the bailiffs.

Ignoring severe debt problems is not the way to handle an inability to pay what you owe, there are other solutions, but the first thing you will need to do is make contact with someone that is able to guide and assist you in finding a debt solution to suit your exact situation.

There is not one single easy to swallow pill for resolving debt problems, there are several ways of helping people to deal with the situation, each of which needs to be specifically tailored to a person’s particular problems.

Many people believe, incorrectly, that “ going broke” and declaring bankruptcy is the only way to clear your debts if you do not have the cash, this is in fact is the last option, and there are several other ways of dealing with the clearance of severe debt.

One way is simply to find a debt counsellor who can take a look at all of your debts and monthly spending, as well as your income, and come up with a debt solution plan that will reduce the amount of money that you spend, while slowly clearing the debts that you owe.

This is not just a matter of juggling some figures around for telling you to spend less on the weekly grocery bill. Debt counsellors can contact the people that you owe money too, and negotiate with them on your behalf to lower the amount of the payments you need to make each month and possibly to suspend the ever growing interest so that you do not get any further into debt.

By using their professional skills as negotiators on your behalf they can often reduce the overall amount that you owe, stop the interest piling up each month, and work out a viable plan that will allow you to pay off what you owe at a rate you can afford, while also keeping the credit card companies, car finance debt collectors and everyone else away from your front door.

Once you have agreed terms with the companies via a debt counsellor you will be able to plug in the phone, un-nail your letterbox and get on with your life without having to endure the stress of severe debt problems.

With tough times comes tough choose and many consumers are forgoing the protection of life insurance because they feel they can’t afford it. Some are looking for the cheapest deals on the market without considering the realities of what happens when something goes wrong. For some, the process of going through a medical exam to get an insurance policy is a hard pill to swallow. Medical exams may actually prevent someone from getting a decent premium on a policy.

Is It Worth It?

Many insurance companies are advertising no-exam policies and are attracting a lot of business because of it. These agencies promise that a consumer only needs to answer a few basic questions before coverage can begin. There are no doctors, no tests, no exams required for the application process. While the policies may be legally valid, the fact that no-exam insurance policies will cost you remains true.

Typically insurance companies require a medical exam of the individual so they can gauge their risk. Since an applicant is only answering some questions and the agency has to rely on their word, premium costs go up because the risks go up.

Finding Quotes

If you are relatively young and in excellent health, you can find life insurance policies that do not require medical exams without much of a problem. The key to finding the right policy is to read the terms and conditions provided. You certainly do not want to pay for a policy that does not meet your needs.

Research not only the quotes you are getting from companies but have a look at the companies providing the quotes. Make sure they are a reputable agency with proper licensing. After narrowing down a few select companies, make sure you are looking at all of the information being provided. Ensure that the type of coverage being offered is what you need. If not, keep looking for the right policy at the right price. Never take the cheapest policy either. In many cases, what you pay for is what you get.

Good As a Supplement

If you have pre-existing medical conditions, you may want to find proper insurance and use the no-exam policies as a supplement to what you already have. Depending on your specific medical history, you may be limited in some choices but definitely consider all options before accepting and paying for coverage