WASHINGTON - More than 3 million seniors may have to switch their Medicare prescription plan next year, even if they’re perfectly happy with it, thanks to an attempt by the government to simplify their lives. The policy change could turn into a hassle for seniors who hadn’t intended to switch plans [ Read More → ]

A California woman deep in credit card debt turned to a debt-settlement company that immediately began deducting money from her bank account for its promised services. After three months, the woman started getting calls from her creditors and learned they had never heard from the company. She asked for her money [ Read More → ]

WASHINGTON - Consumer borrowing fell in June for a fifth straight month as households keep cutting back on credit card use. Borrowing dropped at an annual rate of $1.3 billion in June, the Federal Reserve reported Friday. That marked the 16th drop in overall credit in the past 17 months. Americans backed [ Read More → ]

Whomever President Barack Obama taps to head the new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection could find it difficult to keep ahead of the credit-card industry. The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, known as the Card Act, was intended to reshape the contours of consumer finance. Among other [ Read More → ]

KANSAS CITY, Mo.—The latest form of identity theft doesn’t depend on stealing your Social Security number. Now thieves are targeting your kid’s number long before the little one even has a bank account. Hundreds of online businesses are using computers to find dormant Social Security numbers — usually those assigned to [ Read More → ]

If you’re an investor or just an average consumer trying to manage life’s expenses, social media and the Internet provide a wealth of free advice and guidance. Blogs, discussion forums and social networking tools such as Twitter and Facebook provide so much information the trick is to be selective and [ Read More → ]

Dentistry in Thailand, with holiday included, can be so much cheaper than having it done in New Zealand. Photo / NZ Herald Rip-offs in New Zealand are big news, following an opinion piece in this newspaper by UK sports writer Peter Bills. It’s an issue that anyone who keeps an eye on [ Read More → ]

NEW YORK—The battle over financial regulation is finally over. Now comes the harder part: kicking Americans’ love of credit. The financial crisis didn’t happen just because banks, credit-card companies and mortgage lenders forced consumers to take on massive debt. We willingly gobbled up the easy credit they offered and used it [ Read More → ]

A new survey of over 2,500 broadband customers carried out by Broadbandchoices.co.uk has revealed what their priorities are when it comes to the service they receive and the complaints they make. When asked to identify the most important aspect when choosing a broadband service, over one third (35%) chose connection reliability. [ Read More → ]

WASHINGTON - Reveling in victory, President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed into law the most sweeping overhaul of financial regulations since the Great Depression, a package that aims to protect consumers and ensure economic stability from Main Street to Wall Street. The law, pushed through mainly by Democrats in Washington’s deeply [ Read More → ]