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A recent poll has revealed that a number of U.S. employers plan to give out raises in 2010. The poll was released by Hewitt Associates Inc. in Lincolnshire, Ill. both salaries and merit increases may show signs of improvement next year.
According to the poll, of 555 large U.S. employers polled in Oct. 2009:
- 83 percent said they will give out raises next year (only about half did in 2009).
- No companies anticipate pay reductions next year (about 10 percent gave pay reductions in 2009).
Also, companies anticipate raising salaries in 2010 by an average of 2.5 percent, which is the second-lowest year on record aside from 2009. Some experts say that base salaries are unlikely to return to pre-recession levels anytime soon.
According to a Hewitt representative, the 2 - 3 percent range for increases is where we're likely to sit for a while because companies have finally gotten their cost structure under control and won't want to adjust it anytime soon.
The poll also revealed that many firms plan to lift their hiring freezes in 2010, mainly because many top employees are starting to leave their companies. Nearly half of the companies polled said they plan to reverse their freezes within the next six months, while 93 percent said they anticipate making offers to new hires by January.
However, experts say not to expect great salaries as a new hire. In fact, temp workers who are hired on permanently should expect the same pay rate they received as a temp.
The good news is that companies plan to hire again and even plan to give raises, so is the trade-off of not-so-big starting salaries or smaller merit increases bad? What do you think?
In May, the FDIC established new rate cap rules that would prevent banks that were considered less than well capitalized from seeking deposits in exchange for interest rates that significantly exceeded the FDIC's rates. Now, according to a recent post from Bank Deals, some customers are seeing rate cuts that mirror the FDIC's weekly national deposit rate averages.
According to the site, some customers have seen reward checking rate decreases from 4.01% APY to 0.88% overnight. The reason banks are giving for their sudden decrease in rates is that they've received cease-and-desist orders to ensure they reduce their rates. Some, like Libertad Bank, have even opposed the rule in writing because they don't believe that reward checking accounts should be considered high-cost accounts.
Because the FDIC appears to be enforcing its rule more aggressively, it may be time to determine whether your bank is less than well capitalized. One way to tell is by seeing if it has any public enforcement actions against it or checking its financial health. If your bank doesn't seem to be in the best standing, it may be time to consider a new one before your current rate gets threatened.
According to an announcement made by the Federal Reserve on Monday, Nov. 16, 2009, a proposal has been issue to add new provisions to the Credit CARD (Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure) Act of 2009. If the proposal is accepted, there will be a number of new restrictions placed on...
Read Full Article: Gift Card Provisions Proposed for Credit CARD Act
Recently, CNNMoney.com asked Americans if they would be interested in helping to pay down the national debt, and the answer seemed to be a resounding "No!"
However, there is indeed a $12 trillion debt to pay down, and Uncle Sam is looking for Americans to make tax-deductible donations to help...
Read Full Article: Report Shows Americans Not Interested in Paying Down U.S. Debt
The 529 college savings plan that many parents have taken advantage of for years have seen a significant decrease in participation in 2008 and 2009. This comes from Financial Research Corp., a Boston research firm that has been keeping track of the amount parents have been setting aside over the...
Read Full Article: Parents Dropping Out of 529 College Savings Plan
While companies are still letting employees go by the thousands and unemployment continues to increase, there is one bright spot on the job front: temporary employment.
According to recent information released by the Labor Department, temporary help services added 44,000 since July 2009 - this...
Read Full Article: More Employers Seeking Temporary Help
Not long ago, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan predicted that unemployment would top 10 percent - it looks like his prediction just came true. According to government report released Friday, Nov. 6, 2009, the unemployment rate has reached 10.2 percent in Oct. 2009, which is the first time...
Read Full Article: Unemployment Tops 10% as Greenspan Predicted
The House of Representatives passed a bill to move up the effective date for the new credit card law to Dec. 1, 2009. The original effective date was August 2010, which then moved to February, before this new bill was passed because lawmakers sensed that credit card companies were conducting...
Read Full Article: Credit Card Law Given New Effective Date to Stop Unfair Practices
According to White house reps, the $787 billion stimulus package has created or saved around 640,000 as of October 30, 2009. While these numbers sound promising, they don't seem to reflect the continuous rise in unemployment that we see with our eyes every day. Of course, this doesn't mean what...
Read Full Article: White House Says Stimulus Created 640,000 Jobs. Where Are They?
Suze Orman is probably shooting out expletives at every turn with recent news that nearly half of unemployed Americans are withdrawing funds from their 401(k) plans. Experts spend a lot of time advising workers not to touch the funds because they take away from much needed retirement at the end...
Read Full Article: Like it or Not, Americans Are Cashing Out Their 401(k)s






