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Macy's reports overcharging customers

09.01.09

Some Macy's stores overcharged holiday shoppers who used debit cards to make purchases on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

Lisa and Bruce Brown are fortunate enough to have plenty of assets to protect. Foremost of these is their children: The Browns are the proud parents of four-year-old Emma, and they have another baby on the way. The Oakland couple also have considerable assets of the financial variety. Thanks to diligent saving and smart property investments, the Browns have a net worth of nearly $2 million. Summertime, and the living is supposed to be easy. The fish are jumping -- or maybe it's the kids at the pool -- and yard work is the last thing on your mind. But the lawn has brown spots, monochrome greenery has replaced those May flowers, and weeds have overrun the mulch beds. The average college grad comes out owing $22,500, per FinAid.org - a scary sum in good economic times. Now unemployment for BA holders is at its highest since the Labor Department started keeping track in 1992, making that debt burden even more onerous.



Question: I'm 62 and have accumulated about $2.6 million in retirement savings, which is invested in stocks and bonds. My adviser suggests that I take a third of this money and invest it in a guaranteed 6% income variable annuity. The cost of the 6% rider is 0.95% of the account balance per year. Do you think this is a good idea? --J.H., Lansing, Michigan It wasn't so long ago that travelers could all but name their price. During the depths of the financial crisis, unheard-of deals abounded as hotel companies did anything to lure business. These days? Not so much. The luxury travel market is coming back, with bookings up as much as 40% since mid-2008. You can still find deals this winter; you just need to think creatively -- and follow our tips. As yet another bank faces collapse, consumers are worried about their cash.

Constant news of layoffs, pay cuts, and stock declines has all of us tightening our belts: A recent Money poll found that in light of the financial crisis, 89% of us are changing the way we manage our finances, and 88% plan to be more frugal.

Ira and Hope Moskowitz, both 44, have lived within a 10-mile radius of Philadelphia their whole lives. City kids, they met in junior high, got married in Philly in 1989, and settled in nearby Cherry Hill, N.J., where Hope manages a hair salon and Ira headed up software administration for a mortgage-servicing firm. Question: Last year I put my money with an adviser for an annual fee of 1% of assets and told him my only criteria for evaluating him will be whether he beats the market. I have refrained from telling him where to invest, when to invest, etc. as I view that as his job. He "got into the rally late" last year and underperformed the broad indexes by 10% to 12%, although we did have a decent fourth quarter. This year he's off to a horrid start, however, and we are already 3% worse than the broad indices. I try not to be a knee-jerk investor and know that every adviser has his ups and downs, but I'm wondering....Is it time to pull the plug? --Mike, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania

Bankruptcy filings by American consumers increased nearly a third in 2008, according to a new report. Is the daily indulgence of Starbucks and McDonald's coffee replaceable? High-flying shares of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters seem to indicate so. Sunday, December 13, my pal Phil DeMuth and I flew into an unbelievably cold Omaha to meet and eat the next day with the maestro, Warren E. Buffett. The next day was even colder, but Warren greeted us in his trademark folksy manner at the door to Berkshire Hathaway's old fashioned, but solid, offices in downtown Omaha. I know that space is limited so I will get right to what went on.



The FDIC protects against losses on bank accounts, but what happens to your investments if a mutual fund company collapses? Fourteen-year-old Dalyn Fountain has all the trappings of today's teens: her own cellphone, an iPod, a new laptop, and cable television in her bedroom. Until recently she also had a ready line of credit from the Bank of Mom & Dad - no payback necessary. Question: I'm single, 38 years old and have about $900,000 saved up. I'm tired of the stress of the corporate world and am wondering: If I live a very simple life, can I afford to retire and not have to worry about going through all my money? --Don H., Marietta, Georgia

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