WASHINGTON — Congress seems increasingly reluctant to let taxes go up, even on wealthier Americans. Worried about the fragile economy and their own upcoming elections, a growing number of Democrats are joining the rock-solid Republican opposition to President Barack Obama’s plans to let some of the Bush administration’s tax cuts expire. Democratic [ 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 → ]

Anna and Charlie Reynolds of St. George, Utah, were worried about losing their home to foreclosure last year. Then they got a lucky break—from an unlikely savior. Some investment funds are emerging as the best hope for millions of U.S. households, like the Reynolds, above, who were behind on [ Read More → ]

HARRISBURG - An Allegheny County state legislator wants all full-time workers in Pennsylvania to get 6 1/2 days of paid sick time per year, an idea that is going over well with labor unions and women’s groups but not so well with some business owners. Currently, 46 percent of workers in [ 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 → ]

The latest lending statistics suggested the number of people who remortgaged their homes in June was just 27,000, down 20 per cent on a year earlier. Ed Stansfield, chief property economist at Capital Economics, said: “There is a sense that people have too little equity in their homes to be able to switch [ Read More → ]

In suburban Toronto, a couple we’ll call Wayne, 34, and Julia, 35, are raising their two children, ages four and six. Julia hasn’t worked for years and doesn’t want to return to a job. They want to save for the kids’ education, move up from their $600,000 house to one [ 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 → ]

In the real estate world, there was one word that used to be the cardinal rule: location, location, location. Just about anybody — the informed and uninformed — could buy a house in a good location and easily make money by flipping, selling or refinancing the home, sometimes after just a [ 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 → ]