Debate Pros and Cons of Regulation of Two Prominent Economists

“The record shows the Federal Reserve was never ahead of a crisis. The SEC [Securities and Exchange Commission] was given pages, 20 pages, explaining what [indicted financier Bernard] Madoff was doing, and they could not figure it out. To give them more power to regulate is a nonstarter,” he said.

Meltzer said the proper course of action is to eliminate taxpayer relief for financial institutions that have come to be called “too big to fail.” “If we don’t get rid of ‘too big to fail,’ we’ll sooner or later have another crisis just as bad as this because ‘too big to fail’ encourages banks to believe that they make the profits and the taxpayers take the losses.” read more...

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How you should handle a phone call from collection agencies

There are several collection agencies that violate FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) norms while collecting debts. As for example, people on the web complain against Ander Financial Network (Afni Inc.) and Midland Credit Management (MCM) saying that they violate FDCPA rules. Read on to know what you should do when you receive a call from such companies.

How to handle a phone call from collection agencies:

You should do the following when a collection agency calls you for debt collection.

• Check whether or not the SOL has expired: After a debt collector contacts you for payments, always check whether or not the SOL (Statute of Limitations) has expired on that particular debt. You should also verify whether or not the debt had already been passed to several agencies before it was sold to the specific collection agency (such as, Midland Credit Management or Ander Financial Network).

• Do not lose temper: Whenever you receive a call from a collection agency, it is quite important not to lose your temper no matter what the collector says. It is also advisable that you don’t make friendship with the debt collector. Try to be professional and authoritative while dealing with collection agencies.

• Don’t disclose private information: It is advisable that you speak as little as possible with the debt collector. Don’t give out information like where you work, your checking and bank account details. Try to keep focused on the negotiation no matter what the debt collector says to you.

• Communicate through mail: You should always communicate with the collection agency through mail so that you can keep the documents of the written communication for future use. Moreover, whenever a debt collector calls you for payments, you should always inform the collection agency that you prefer a written communication.

One of the greatest advantages of written communication is that if a collection agency violates FDCPA rules, you can always file a lawsuit against them along with the evidence.

There are some states, which have their own debt collection laws. You can contact the office of the Attorney General to make yourself aware of those laws. This knowledge will help you to deal with the debt collectors effectively.

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Hierarchy of Financial Success

Success is everyone dreaming for. There are a lot of success in areas of our life. And for me Success is about fulfilling the needs of others especially if share our ideas and opinions for them to become successful. Successful companies and organizations generally do this by offering products or services that others desire.In financial success it is important Setting-up your financial goals is a very important step in financial management.However, you will find out soon enough that you will have more goals than resources. You will be lucky if your current resources will allow you to save for three goals at the same time. If this is the case, it is very important to prioritize your goals so that you can start saving for them systematically until each goal is realized.

One approach that you can take is to use the concept of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Abraham Maslow has set up a hierarchy of five levels of basic needs (Physiological, Safety, Social, Esteem, Self Actualization). Beyond these needs, higher levels of needs exist. These include needs for understanding, esthetic appreciation and purely spiritual needs. In the levels of the five basic needs, the person does not feel the second need until the demands of the first have been satisfied, nor the third until the second has been satisfied, and so on.

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Should you save money for a rainy day?

It’s beginning to sound depressing that you may not even want to go through this very important step in planning for your future.But, if you’re really serious, you CAN do something about it.If, after you have defined your goal, you will discover that you have a problem because you don’t know how to ever achieve it, then be consoled in the old adage that says, a problem defined is a problem half solved.

The first step is to face the future squarely and define the challenge: decide what your goal is first and then make a plan.Your goal will not happen just because you defined it.But neither will an investment plan work, if you have no goal to begin with.So, take the time to plan your goals.Dream a dream, if you want to.But do it.Now. Sticking a wad of cash under your mattress may sound like solid advice your great-grandmother gave you, but unless you're getting a healthy return on your investment, it's a poor personal financial choice. One of the oldest rules of personal finance is the simple admonition to pay yourself first. All the money books tell you to do it. All the personal finance blogs say it, too. Even your parents have given you the same advice.

Should you save money for a rainy day? Yes! But instead of hiding it in your home (or even sticking it in a bank account without some deeper analysis of the interest rates), you're doing yourself a disservice and turning down money that is rightfully yours! To pay yourself first means simply this: Before you pay your bills, before you buy groceries, before you do anything else, set aside a portion of your income to save. Put the money into your 401(k), your Roth IRA, or your savings account. The first bill you pay each month should be to yourself. This habit, developed early, can help you build tremendous wealth. If you’re just getting started in the Real World, saving may seem impossible. You have rent, a car payment, groceries, and maybe student loans. Sure, you’d like to save, but there’s just no money left at the end of the month. And that’s the problem: Most people save what’s left over — left over after bills and after discretionary spending.But if you don’t develop the saving habit now, there are always going to be reasons to delay: you need dental work, you want to go to Mexico with your friends, you aren’t making enough to pay your bills. Start saving now instead of waiting until next year (or the year after)

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