Excluding medical debt reporting increases risk for both lenders and borrowers
Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced a new rule that will exclude all medical debt from credit reports. According to the CFPB, this change will erase nearly $50 billion in unpaid medical bills from roughly 15 million Americans' credit reports and boost their credit scores by an [...]
New Year, Same Washington
Hopefully you all had a wonderful holiday season filled with many of the traditions you and your family enjoy. One new holiday tradition that I can do without however, is the threat of a government shutdown that seems to come back every December as Washington struggles to pass an annual [...]
Transitions
Since we do not know the ending numbers for 2024 while I am writing this column, I thought we would visit the statistical probabilities for 2025 and perhaps recall some amazing financial market performances of yesteryears. Remember that there are lies, damnable lies, and statistics! For years I have consulted [...]
Don’t let fear do to you what it did to Scrooge
After joining Stewardship Capital about 10 years ago, one of the first columns I ever wrote for the Examiner was a character study of Ebenezer Scrooge from the Charles Dickens holiday classic A Christmas Carol. In the column, I really analyzed Scrooge as the tragic hero he was, and not [...]
Business of Generosity
Last week we had Giving Tuesday. According to its official website of www.givingtuesday.org, Giving Tuesday was created in 2012 within the 92nd Street Y and its Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact in NYC. It now is an independent nonprofit inspiring millions to give, collaborate and celebrate generosity. According [...]
Not everything is at it seems
Have you ever been on the phone with a customer service representative for several minutes before realizing the “person” you are conversing with is actually just a machine? I recently had that experience, and it surprised me how authentic and genuine this robot was in mimicking actual human behavior and [...]
Smooth Sailing
I hope you and yours enjoyed a blessed Thanksgiving Day last week. Yesterday was Giving Tuesday. If you have not participated yet, please join me and many others who give all year long. There is no end to the good that our contributions can do for those who have [...]
Thanksgiving is not a day but a mindset
It has been a long tradition in the Examiner for Ronald Finke to write a column of Thanksgiving every year. It’s something I personally always look forward to, and perhaps many of you do as well. That’s why I was very excited to be granted the privilege of writing this [...]
The American Dream is becoming a nightmare for too many young people
Recently, Investopedia made headlines with their findings on how much it actually costs to live the American Dream. According to the study, it costs roughly 4.4 million dollars to have all of the things traditionally viewed as part of living the dream. This includes such things as a home, a [...]
It’s not political
At times, some clients become quite concerned about election results and which party will supposedly be in charge for the next four years. Perhaps this is your feeling also. I am sure there will be exceptions, but my response is always that the political situation is not as important as [...]