Shutterstock

Do you find yourself checking your bank account on a daily basis over and over again? Do you give a side-eye to the idea of a joint account with your current or future spouse, automatic bill payments and building credit? If this sounds like you or someone you know, you may be a money hoarder; one who excessively acquires money, but has difficulty spending it or letting go financial control.

Here are a few ways to tell if you are hoarding your own money, unable to trust your family, your bank, or even yourself with spending it, in fear of losing a little bit of control.

This particular credit union seems to be fine, BTW. AP Photo/Toby Talbot

The year 2013 is relatively young yet already nearly 20 credit unions have failed, according to Bankrate.com .

Two in small ones in Southern California have just been shut down by federal regulators. Deposits will be returned to members. The credit unions were  the Pepsi Cola Federal Credit Union of Buena Park and ICE Federal Credit Union of Inglewood. They were insolvent, with no prospects for restoring viable operations, the National Credit Union Administration in news releases reports The Los Angeles Times.

And these unions have been around for decades. The Pepsi Cola Federal was chartered in 1956 and served 558 members. It had $652,000 in assets.

Meanwhile ICE Federal, which was chartered in 1939 and served Inglewood city employees and their families, had 942 members and assets of $3.4 million.

If you have your money in a credit union don’t panic. There are ways to keep your money safe. According to Bankrate.com, avoid privately insured credit unions; federally insured are safer. Keep your deposits below $250,000. Deposits are federally insured up to $250,000.

If you are using a credit union, be on the look out for warning signs that the union is in trouble. “Such institutions may pay lower deposit rates or offer poor service,” warns Bankrate. On the good side, if your union is having finical trouble you will probably find out sooner than later. Credit unions are more transparent than banks as they hold annual meetings that are open to members. They also issue annual reports and post financial statements every month.

Bankrate.com advises to have an action plan for a credit union failure. “If your credit union does go belly up, wait three months before deciding whether to switch to another institution. It can take 30 days to three months just to find a taker for a failed credit union. Once that happens, its members are notified,” writes the financial site.

To check out your credit union’s financial health, visit  the National Credit Union Administration website or Bankrate.com’s Safe & Sound.

Source: WENN

Mary, this is…out of hand.

In documents obtained by TMZ, singer Mary J. Blige has been hit with a tax lien by the state of New Jersey. The documents state that Mary owes the government $901,769.65 in back taxes.  They didn’t state what years the IRS is seeking back pay but she’s probably missed at least two years.

This is just the latest string of financial problems and embarrassments for Mary.  It was just over a week ago that we told you she defaulted on a loan from Bank of America and now owes them over $500,000. When she was asked about it, she said was that all she can do is just keep pushing on on and “let haters hate.” Ahhh yes, those haters sure do know how to get you in alleged financial trouble, don’t they?

But even prior to that, she defaulted on a $2.2 million dollar loan and  before that, she was sued because of her charity not paying back money.

It would seem like when you suddenly find yourself in major situations like this on an almost consistent basis, not only would you fire your accountants (even if they’re flesh and blood), but you might also consider taking some accounting classes so you can figure out how to go over the books yourself.  There just doesn’t seem to be a logical reason for these things to keep happening.

TMZ reached out to Mary’s reps but so far, they’ve received no response.

Shutterstock

As a millennial generation heads into their 20s and 30s, many have had either a great or not-so great example of what it means to manage their money. Although the age of careers, job searches, marriages and first homes are approaching, many millennials still have no clue what it truly means to manage money for their long-term success and comfort. Even parents are sometimes shaky resources for personal finance information.

A 2012 U.S. News Money article finds that Generation Xers (who are now in their 30s and 40s) are the generation with the most financial frustration. Retirees are increasingly responsible for their own savings, income, and financial futures. Let’s face it, we all can use an old-fashioned money management lesson every now and again.

Let’s all learn a little bit from past generations, and keep your money flowing with these old school money management tips.

iStockphoto

Banks are showing a little heart — finally. In wake of Hurricane Sandy several have announced that they are waiving bank fees.

JP Morgan Chase, which is the biggest bank in America, said they are do away with various fees until November 1, reports The Huffington Post. These fees include overdraft protection transfer and extended overdraft as well as late fees on credit cards, business and consumer loans, including mortgages, home-equity, auto and student loans.

Citibank, meanwhile, will not charge customers out-of-network ATM surcharges.

Wells Fargo, too, is offering relief from late fees through November 1 and waiving out-of-network ATM fees for customers in affected areas.

Bank of America said that if you incurred late fees because of the storm, contact the bank to have these fees dropped. This includes out-of-network ATM surcharges.

TD Bank customers can ask to have late-payment and out-of-network ATM fees waived.

And Barclays is waiving late fees as well through November 1.

So pay attention to your ATM receipts and online bank accounts to make sure you’re not incurring these charges.

Image: Stockbyte

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has found that one in five people who look at their credit report are seeing a version that’s different from the one that lenders see when they pull that person’s info.

According to The Huffington Post, the CFPB examined 200,000 reports from the three major credit reporting agencies (it doesn’t specify, but that’s usually Experian, TransUnion and Equifax) and found that between 19 and 24 percent of the time, the differences in the scores were significant. Credit agencies use their own scoring models to determine a person’s score. As you know, banks and other lenders use these scores to determine whether a person is too much of a risk to lend money to. They also determine the cost of the loan you’re getting.

HuffPo reports, ”[The discrepancy] could lead those consumers to waste time applying for loans they cannot afford or to take out loans with worse terms than they could get if they saw the same score as the lender, the consumer agency said.”

The CFPB was created by the Dodd-Frank law, which itself was a response to the Great Recession. The group has been charged with keeping an eye on 30 credit reporting companies, among other things. These findings demonstrate the need for an organization like this.

Unfortunately, if there’s information going to lenders that you’re not privy to, there’s not much that you can do. But, consumers would be smart to keep an eye on the credit scores they do have access to, making sure that there are no glaring mistakes and correcting ones that are found. Consumers are at a disadvantage, so they have to have a firm grasp on all the data they can control.
More on Madame Noire Business!

• From Detroit to Austria: Baroness Monica von Neumann Puts a Regal Spin on the Candle Business
• No to OWS: Jay Says He Never Supported Occupy Wall Street Movement
• The Wealth Gap and Entrepreneurship: Helping Black Businesses Helps Everyone
• Put Your Pride Aside: Why You Should Take The Job You Need Until You Can Get The One You Want
• Unemployed and Undereducated: Study Finds Black Youth Are Disconnected
• Vogue’s First Fashion Week In Africa Highlights Renewed Interest in the Continent

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Image: AP

-A study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that merely 13 percent of the small businesses in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut that applied for bank loans in April and May got the full amount they requested. Another 36 percent got a partial amount. More than half of applicants asked for a “microloan,” a loan of less than $100,000. “But lenders were more likely to turn down microloan applications than larger loan applications, likely because they were skittish about lending to newer firms and more likely to turn down startups,” reports The Huffington Post.

-A Pennsylvania judge upheld that state’s voter ID law. Liberal groups are already planning their appeals on the grounds that the laws will unfairly impact minority and poor voters. Judge Robert Simpson, a Republican, said the law is “a reasonable, nondiscriminatory, nonsevere burden when viewed in the broader context of the widespread use of photo ID in daily life.”

-Interactive Product Group, a division of fashion mag publisher Condé Nast, has created a new video game meant to appeal to the ladies. ”Fashion Hazard” places fashion models on the runway with the goal of avoiding obstacles that could ruin the show, like a flying cup of latte. The game will be available for iPhones and iPads starting today for 99 cents. Women and girls make up about half of the gamers today. In 2011, about $16.6 billion worth of games were sold in the U.S.

-Research conducted by Policy Studies, a liberal think tank, found that 26 large U.S. companies paid their CEOs $20.4 million on average, but paid little to no taxes on their profits. The average net income of those companies was more than $1 billion in the U.S. For example, James McNerney Jr., CEO of Boeing, made $18.4 million last year and the company got a $605 million tax refund. How do we get in on that deal?

-Big news lighting up Twitter this morning is the decision by the government of Ecuador to grant Wikileaks founder Julian Assange political asylum. Not sure what it’s all about? Here’s a good summary.

Image: iStockphoto

-Yesterday, we had word about the ways in which banks hadn’t changed their mortgage practices when dealing with homeowners in foreclosure. Now we have the infuriating news that banks are actually making a fortune on mortgages nowadays despite record-low percentage rates. Why? Because the rates could be even lower, but the banks want to drive up profits. The Mortgage Bankers Association argues that banks incur more fees on loans than they did in the past, but less competition and sales of bundled financial products are working in their favor.

-Accessories, and accessory designers, are hot right now.

-New housing units in Washington DC may drive down rent prices in that city. DC will have 6,000 new units by the end of the year. This doesn’t mean that rent will be cheap. The average rent in DC right now is $1,501. The national average is $1,081. The average rent in Atlanta is $868.

-The New York City Mayor’s Office shut down a Trojan event in which free vibrators were being given away from “Pleasure Carts” across Manhattan. “Bloomberg doesn’t want anyone to have fun. You can’t have a giant soda. You can’t have a vibrator,” said one unhappy bar owner, Melody Henry. It’s worth reading the New York Post article about the shutdown if only to see how many awkward plays on words they can get into one small story.

-And in Olympics news,  Allyson Felix took gold in the 200-meter race. American Carmelita Jeter took the bronze. (Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce took silver.) Also in track and field, Brittney Reese became the second American woman ever to take the top spot in the long jump and Aries Merritt won the 110-meter hurdles. Finally, the US took gold and silver in women’s beach volleyball. This was the third gold medal for Misty-May Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings, a first for the sport.

Joyce Harrison is a woman of humble beginnings that understands what it means to be called “unequal” or “not good enough.” The native of Asheville, NC grew up in the 1940s and 50s when racism was alive and strong, but always felt determined to do something to uplift her community—and that she did. After spending 21 years with the Self-Help Credit Union, Harrison is retiring, leaving behind her legacy as one of the most influential money handlers in her region.

“I’m an African-American female who’s had to dig my way to where I am today, and it did not come by easy routes,” Harrison tells Asheville’s Citizen Times. “Everything I have done in my life I have earned — nobody’s ever given me anything.”

According to Citizen Times, Harrison spent 10 years working for Handi-Skills, an organization that offers job training for people with disabilities. Although the job provided her some sense of fulfillment, she knew in her heart that she was destined to do even more.

“I kept thinking, ‘What do I really want to do? I want to do something stable, but also do something to help people in the long run,’ ” she said.

She switched careers and began working at Asheville Savings Bank, where she quickly moved from working as a bank teller to the challenges of working with loans and other ventures.

Dana Smith, the regional director of Self-Help noticed her skills at Asheville Savings and invited her to join Self-Help Credit Union’s board of directors. It wasn’t long before he also asked her to work at Self-Help, and after a year of persuading, she finally agreed.

“From that day forth, I knew this was where I needed to be — this was my landing point,” Harrison told Citizen Times. “I finally realized the dream I’d had for so long, to help people of color get to the level they wanted to get to.”

Although Harrison’s trainer at first teased her, calling her “the banker with a heart,” he was soon silenced by her impressive skills and achievements. In her first year she made more than $1 million in small-business loans in her local Asheville area, a record-breaking mark for the credit union. In her 21 years as the head of Self-Help, she succeeded in securing 934 home and commercial loans for the bank at a total of $75 million. Of that total, 60 percent went to low-income families, 29 percent were minorities families and 44 percent were female-headed households; many of the recipients fit into more than one of those categories.

“Self-Help was on the cutting edge of seeing how we can turn a no into a yes — it wasn’t about your portfolio being large enough, it was about making loans, doing things to grow the community,” Harrison said.

Her commitment to her community hasn’t gone unnoticed. As she retires, she takes with her several awards and the love of so many families she helped empower over the years.

“Joyce has an incredible love and passion for helping other people,” Martin Eakes, Self-Help’s co-founder and CEO told Citizen Times. “Her light and enthusiasm have brightened Self-Help and communities all over WNC.”

(Wall Street Journal) — Small businesses received more government-backed loans last year than ever before. Even so, access to capital remains a major hurdle for a significant number of U.S. entrepreneurs, new data show.  A record $19.6 billion were issued through the Small Business Administration’s flagship program in fiscal 2011, the government agency reported Wednesday. Those funds, however, were distributed to 53,706 businesses, roughly the same number as in 2010.  SBA loans, which are issued through banks, are intended to help small firms grow and hire. A portion of each loan is guaranteed by the federal agency to cover a bank if a borrower defaults, thereby reducing the bank’s risk. In turn, the agency reasons that the program encourages banks lend to more money to more small businesses.

Read More…