RETIREMENT FINANCIAL HEALTH
These banks are tops at protecting consumers from ID fraud
09/11/07 07:50
These banks are tops at protecting consumers from ID fraud
MarketWatch
By Andrea Coombes
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Bank of America Corp. took top honors for the second year in a row in a report ranking the largest U.S. banks on how well they protect their customers from fraud and identity theft.
J.P. Morgan Chase, Washington Mutual Inc. and Wells Fargo Co. tied for second place, and Citibank came in third in the study published Wednesday by Javelin Strategy & Research.
The study looked at 25 banks that together hold 50% of U.S. checking-account deposits... The study measured banks' policies for preventing, detecting and resolving fraud, focusing on measures that consumers experience, not internal bank security policies. For instance, banks got top marks for alerting customers of unusual transactions -- say, a wire transfer to a foreign country or an unusually big withdrawal amount...alerts are particularly important because almost one out of two cases of identity fraud are first detected by the individual.
Lowest-ranked were Comerica with a score of 24, Banco Popular with 31 and Bank of the West with 35.
MarketWatch
By Andrea Coombes
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Bank of America Corp. took top honors for the second year in a row in a report ranking the largest U.S. banks on how well they protect their customers from fraud and identity theft.
J.P. Morgan Chase, Washington Mutual Inc. and Wells Fargo Co. tied for second place, and Citibank came in third in the study published Wednesday by Javelin Strategy & Research.
The study looked at 25 banks that together hold 50% of U.S. checking-account deposits... The study measured banks' policies for preventing, detecting and resolving fraud, focusing on measures that consumers experience, not internal bank security policies. For instance, banks got top marks for alerting customers of unusual transactions -- say, a wire transfer to a foreign country or an unusually big withdrawal amount...alerts are particularly important because almost one out of two cases of identity fraud are first detected by the individual.
Lowest-ranked were Comerica with a score of 24, Banco Popular with 31 and Bank of the West with 35.
Americans Are Overpaying Billions via Unclaimed Tax Breaks
19/10/07 06:49
by Tom Herman
Friday, October 19, 2007
The Wall Street Journal
Many Fail to Claim Deductions Tied To Local Outlays
Millions of people overlooked an important tax break and made other costly mistakes earlier this year on their 2006 returns, according to a recent report by the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, a Treasury Department unit.
For example, nearly 2.1 million taxpayers who were eligible to deduct their state and local sales taxes didn't do so, up 50% from the previous year. These people missed taking advantage of potentially $3.6 billion in deductions,
Friday, October 19, 2007
The Wall Street Journal
Many Fail to Claim Deductions Tied To Local Outlays
Millions of people overlooked an important tax break and made other costly mistakes earlier this year on their 2006 returns, according to a recent report by the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, a Treasury Department unit.
For example, nearly 2.1 million taxpayers who were eligible to deduct their state and local sales taxes didn't do so, up 50% from the previous year. These people missed taking advantage of potentially $3.6 billion in deductions,
Medicare Drug Plan Medicare Drug Plan Manipulation
05/10/07 08:11
Means Test Sought for Medicare Drug Plan
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 5, 2007; Page A01
The Bush administration is advancing a proposal to levy higher premiums and deductibles on upper-income seniors enrolled in Medicare's new prescription drug benefit, raising fees on beneficiaries with incomes over about $80,000 a year, administration officials said yesterday.
The administration is working with Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) to attach to upcoming legislation a "means testing" provision that would save the government billions of dollars. In the past, however, similar proposals have been blocked by the furious response of seniors.
The Senate rejected a similar proposal from Sen. John Ensign (R) in March.
"You say it saves money and these people can afford it, but it also eats away at the incomes of seniors. It erodes their sense of the reliability on these federal programs, and it certainly erodes political support," said John Rother, policy director for AARP, the powerful senior lobby. Does the senator propose to increase his OWN health plan costs without voting himself a pay raise?
By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 5, 2007; Page A01
The Bush administration is advancing a proposal to levy higher premiums and deductibles on upper-income seniors enrolled in Medicare's new prescription drug benefit, raising fees on beneficiaries with incomes over about $80,000 a year, administration officials said yesterday.
The administration is working with Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) to attach to upcoming legislation a "means testing" provision that would save the government billions of dollars. In the past, however, similar proposals have been blocked by the furious response of seniors.
The Senate rejected a similar proposal from Sen. John Ensign (R) in March.
"You say it saves money and these people can afford it, but it also eats away at the incomes of seniors. It erodes their sense of the reliability on these federal programs, and it certainly erodes political support," said John Rother, policy director for AARP, the powerful senior lobby. Does the senator propose to increase his OWN health plan costs without voting himself a pay raise?