Which is the greater threat to investors: inflation or deflation? If you don’t know the answer to that, welcome to the club, and expect the tug of war between the two portfolio influencers to last a few more years. Left to raw market forces, we should probably be [ Read More → ]

Allied Farmers, the embattled financier and rural services provider, will renegotiate the terms of its bank facility in the fall-out of its subsidiary, Allied Nationwide’s, receivership. The company, which took on the troubled Hanover finance company loan book at the end of last year, is in discussions with its lender Westpac [ Read More → ]

Both those who took out loans before 1998 and those whose loans date from after that period will now pay interest on their balances, after a period where those with older loans were effectively paid to keep hold of them, and those with newer loans paid zero interest. The Student Loans Company confirmed that [ Read More → ]

While Ottawa makes noises about boosting financial literacy, it’s curious that this country’s 289,000 financial advisors seldom talk about debt. The industry thinks it’s OK that 40% of Canadians now retire with some debt, with many going deeper into hock once they stop working. Little wonder that a thousand or [ Read More → ]

As you help pack up the minifridge, laptop and extra-long twin sheets for your college freshman, you might consider a few other last-minute chores: • Scour your health-insurance coverage for loopholes. • Reread your homeowner’s insurance policy. • Call your lawyer.Sending a child off to college for the first time is wrenching enough, [ 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 - Unable to make a sizable dent in unemployment, Democrats are on the political equivalent of a golden oldies tour, pledging support for Social Security, Medicare and other venerable programs while trying to stoke voter fears about Republican intentions. The Voting Rights Act, Americans with Disabilities Act and most recently, [ Read More → ]

It’s nearly four months since stocks reached their 2010 highs and began falling on investors’ doubts about the economic recovery. Some analysts say it could be another year before investors get up enough confidence to restart the rally. The economy isn’t helping them. Last week, the Federal Reserve and two mass-market [ Read More → ]

Last week, new government data revealed that the number of people over the age of 65 is set to continue growing to almost a quarter of the population in 20 years time. Now, a new report from AXA, the financial protection provider, warns that today’s pensioners are being hit by [ Read More → ]

CHICAGO—A sideways stock market has investors searching for other places to make a decent return on their money. And junk bonds, for better or worse, are starting to look like gems to many. The appeal is easy to understand. Junk bonds, known more politely as high-yield bonds, are bonds with very low [ Read More → ]