| Weighing options of credit card debt consolidation effort
D ear Debt Adviser: I have consolidated all of our credit card debt onto two credit cards with APRs of 4.99 percent and 2.99 percent until it is paid off. My husband wants us to take out a loan with the bank so that we are making set monthly payments, even though the interest rate would be considerably higher, possibly around 11.25 percent. I have tried to explain to him that we would be paying more money that way, but he does not understand. Can you explain it in a way he can understand or am I somehow looking at this wrong? -- Susan Dear Susan: I can tell who's the most fun at your house. You clearly like an unstructured approach that allows for side trips when something interesting comes along. The old "ball and chain" likes a direct approach with few unknowns and a clear end to the journey.
Rein in spending and avoid credit-card debt
Question: I have credit-card debt at high interest rates on several cards, as well as student loans. Going into my last year in college and being wary of the future, carrying this debt scares me. I have been wondering if I should consider a debt-consolidation loan. What do you think? Answer: I am not a fan of consolidation loans. What attracts most people to consolidation loans is the potentially lower monthly payments. However, the main drawback of such loans is that they usually raise a person's average interest rate on his debt. .
Student loan options are baffling to family
Karen Wons of Maryland finds herself in a quandary that is confronting many parents right now. She is struggling with how best to advise her daughter -- a recent college graduate -- on paying down her $25,000 in student loans. Wons did what any wise parent would do. She asked for help. Wons's daughter works as a project manager at a medical software company. She has an annual salary of more than $50,000. Her employer provides a 401(k). She has about $13,000 in cash from recently redeemed Series EE savings bonds. She has no credit card debt. She has no payments on a reliable car with low mileage. She's sharing an apartment and other living expenses with an older sister in Madison, Wis. Her portion of the rent is a little more than $500 a month. Wons is unsure about the course her daughter should take: Should the daughter consolidate her college loans during her six-month grace period? (She has federally backed Stafford and Perkins loans.) Should she use the entire $13,000 to pay down the loans or keep making monthly payments to take advantage of the interest deduction? Should she invest all of the $13,000? While paying on the loans, should she contribute to her 401(k)? Let's take the consolidation question first.
MortgageBrokers.com announces the expansion of its brand presence through opening new retail locations across Canada
MortgageBrokers.com Financial group of Companies Inc., a subsidiary of MortgageBrokers.com Holdings Inc. (OTC BB: MBKR - News) announced that the company through it's Managing Partner, opening of 2 new retail locations under the MortgageBrokers.com flag in Toronto, Ontario. These latest retail store front opening continues the company's expanding brand presence through store front retail locations across Canada. .
Paul Galeski
Despite the stress, the chase for money and the challenges of starting a second company, several serial information-technology entrepreneurs say theyd do it again.
In 1990, Paul Galeski started Magnum Technologies, a factory automation software firm, with $6,000, two employees and a small office in Belleville, Ill. Like a lot of entrepreneurs, he poured his heart and soul into the company.
It expanded quickly, making the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing U.S. companies. Then, in 1997, it caught the eye of General Electric Co.
GE offered to buy Magnum and wanted Galeski to stay on to help run it. Making the decision to sell was brutal, Galeski recalls.
You raise this thing from a pup and grow it into a pretty substantial business, he says from his office at Maverick Technologies in Columbia, Ill.
TRX Reports Second Quarter 2007 Results
ATLANTA, Aug. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TRX, (Nachrichten) Inc. , a global technology company that develops and hosts software applications to process data records and automate manual processes, today reported financial results for the quarter ended 30 June 2007.
Total revenues excluding client reimbursements for the second quarter of 2007 were $24.5 million compared with $29.4 million in the second quarter of 2006. Net loss for the second quarter was ($0.4) million compared with net income of $1.8 million in the second quarter of 2006. Net loss per diluted share was ($0.02) compared to net income per share of $0.10 per diluted share for the second quarter of 2006.
Revenues from transaction processing services for the second quarter of 2007 decreased to $16.6 million from $19.3 million in the second quarter of 2006.
THE INTERNATIONAL FORECASTER
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