Story Archives of 'Personal Finance'

Where can I learn about environmentally-friendly retirement plans?

By EarthTalk on Sunday, June 8, 2008.
Responding largely to employee demand, more and more companies are now offering greener options for 401(k) retirement investment accounts.

Responding largely to employee demand, more and more companies are now offering greener options for 401(k) retirement investment accounts." (Getty Images)

Credit Unions Turn 100

By Jon Greenberg on Wednesday, June 4, 2008.

A hundred years ago, the country’s first credit union was formed in New Hampshire. Today, there are more than 5 thousand credit unions serving some 48 million people. An exhibit highlighting some of the milestones in the growth of these financial institutions just opened at the American Credit Union Museum in Manchester. New Hampshire Public Radio’s Jon Greenberg spoke with the president and CEO of Service Credit Union, Gordon Simmons.

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The Lowdown on College Loans

By Laura Knoy on Wednesday, May 21, 2008.

For decades, millions of college bound students have relied on government or private loans to afford higher education. But lately some private lenders are scaling back: they’re in enough trouble with today’s unstable credit markets and can't spend additional capital on students. We’ll look at how we got here, what Granite Staters are doing to cope, and the current debate over student loans in Congress.

Guests

  • Paul Basken, Senior Federal Government Reporter for the Chronicle of Higher Education
  • Tara Payne, director of the New Hampshire Higher Education Assistance Foundation

We'll also hear from

  • Jerry Little, President of the New Hampshire Bankers Association
  • Ken Ferreira, Executive Director of Student Financial Services at Franklin Pierce and President of the New Hampshire Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators
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How I Spent My Stimulus

By Vanessa Valdes on Monday, May 12, 2008.

The talk of how you should spend that much-anticipated stimulus check (pay your debt! save it all! go nuts on Amazon!) has been unending since the government announced its plans to gift taxpayers with a few hundred bucks earlier this year. A new website gives you a sense of what people are actually doing with their money.

Bankruptcies on the Rise

By Laura Knoy on Thursday, February 14, 2008.

Personal bankruptcy filings in New Hampshire have gone up substantially in the last year, and bankruptcy attorneys say this is due in large part to the mortgage crisis. Many Granite Staters are filing Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies in order to try and avoid foreclosure. But the rise in bankruptcy filings is not being solely driven by the mortgage crisis, as consumers are heavy in credit card debt and unable to stay afloat. We’ll look at the factors behind this rise, the current economic picture and the road ahead.

Guests

  • Raef Granger, bankruptcy attorney with Granger Law
  • Brian Gottlob, economist with PolEcon Research in Dover
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Payday Lending

By Laura Knoy on Wednesday, January 16, 2008.

The payday loan industry gives consumers short-term loans to help pay bills, cover emergency expenses or keep a check from bouncing. For those able to pay back the loan in the turnaround period, these loans can be a lifesaver, but for those who default, the interest rates can be extremely high and can cause them to keep rolling the loan over and over again, running themselves into deeper debt. This week state lawmakers consider a proposal to cap interest rates at 36%, which some in the industry say would effectively put them out of business here. We’ll look at the pros and cons of payday loans and their future in the Granite State.

Guests

  • Sara Mattson, Staff Attorney with New Hampshire Legal Assistance
  • Jamie Fulmer, Director of Investor Relations for Advance America, the country’s leading provider of payday cash advance services and the largest payday lending company operating in New Hampshire

We'll Also Hear From

  • Dan Gorenstein, Reporter for NHPR
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House Set to Vote on Payday Loans

By Dan Gorenstein on Tuesday, January 15, 2008.

The New Hampshire House is expected to vote on legislation Wednesday that would limit how much interest so-called payday lenders can charge.

Supporters argue tighter restrictions are needed because the loans trap poor people in an endless cycle of debt.

Lenders argue that if lawmakers go too far, it could drive the industry out of the state.

New Hampshire Public Radio’s Dan Gorenstein reports.

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Bankruptcy Law Reform

By Laura Knoy on Tuesday, October 17, 2006.

One year to the day after sweeping reforms to the bankruptcy law were put into effect, we look at how well the changes have worked, who was impacted and if the law did what it was supposed to do- cut back on unecessary filings and abuses of the system. Laura's guests are Raef Granger, an attorney who runs his own practice in Manchester, covering a variety of legal matters, including bankruptcy, and Todd Zywicki, Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law and Senior Fellow of the James Buchanan Center, Program on Politics, Philosophy and Economics at George Mason University. He was also recently named as a member of the United States Department of Justice Study Group on "Identifying Fraud, Abuse and Errors in the United States Bankruptcy System."

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Soaring Student Debt

By Richard Ager on Monday, September 18, 2006.

A new report ranks the Granite State at the top of the list for saddling our college students with the highest level of student debt in the nation. We’ll ask why, and look at what other states are doing to help their students manage- and minimize their debt load. Richard Ager hosts. His guests are Tara Payne, Director of the New Hampshire Higher Education Assistance Foundation (NHHEAF) Center for College Planning and Robert Shireman, Founder and Executive Director of the The Institute for College Access and Success. He is also a Visiting Scholar at the University of California at Berkeley ’s Center for Studies in Higher Education and serves as a congressional appointee to the Federal Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance. Robert's group released the study (pdf) under The Project on Student Debt, which is part of the T-I-C-A-S. We'll also hear from Lou D'Allesandro, State Senator from Manchester who is Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and also Chairman of the New England Board of Higher Education.

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New Hampshire Students Have Highest Debt in the Country

By Amy Quinton on Wednesday, September 13, 2006.

New Hampshire students have just returned to college campuses this fall.

But they’ll likely leave with big loans to pay back.

A new report on four year colleges shows that New Hampshire graduates have the highest level of education debt in the country.

New Hampshire Public Radio’s Amy Quinton reports.

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