In case you missed them, here are the top 10 Personal Finance stories from MarketWatch for the week of May 18-22:
Strapped budgets, cheap gas, job insecurity: No wonder the road trip is back
Money’s tight, gas is cheap, and the pull of the open road is one few Americans are able to resist, particularly on Memorial Day — the first long weekend of the summer. Plus, with the job market as unstable as it is, more people may feel better asking for a few days off for a weekend getaway rather than a week or more for a longer journey, even though airfares are lower than they’ve been in years. It all adds up: Time for a road trip. See Travel.
Family car trips forge bonds, teach valuable lessons
Before there was Game Boy or LeapFrog 1-2-3 there was Auto Bingo and Billboard ABCs. Back when air travel was exotic, the family vacation meant a summer car trip with diversions all along the way, none of them electronic. See Travel.
More Americans considering foreclosures, despite their drawbacks
An increasing percentage of Americans are willing to consider the purchase of a foreclosure home, even knowing that there are some negatives to acquiring distressed properties, according to results of a survey released on Wednesday. See full story.
22 reasons Obama will raise your taxes … soon!
Yes, taxes will go up. Must. Why? Debt: federal, state, corporate, bank, pensions, personal. The hole just keeps getting deeper, bigger. Well over $100 trillion of debt is being piled on future generations, while our GDP is only $15 trillion annually. See Paul B. Farrell.
Workers face huge influx of information, but they’re on their own in dealing with it
Ever feel like you need a break from work just to get your work done? You’re not alone. Every day, information workers in the U.S. — who comprise an estimated 63% of the workforce — are each bombarded with 1.6 gigabytes of information, on average, through emails, reports, blogs, text messages, calls and more, according to preliminary data from a report coming later this year. See Andrea Coombes Ways & Means.
Dealership cuts open door to new-car savings
If you’ve been hankering for a brand-new Chrysler Sebring convertible, a Ford Fusion or even a Lexus GS450, you’re sitting squarely in the driver’s seat: there are unprecedented deals now that probably won’t last past summer. See full story.
Bulls tread carefully in China’s shop
With signs that China’s massive economic stimulus plan is beginning to take hold, some strategists suggest that investors focus on a country that is already bolstering global markets. See Investing in China.
Spend some time, save some money
What’s your time worth? $20 an hour? Maybe $100? When it comes to finances, people usually know the value of their savings and investments. And, after checking Zillow three times a week, they have an idea of the value of their homes. But all too often, they haven’t put a price on their time and labor. See Brett Arends.
The five biggest hurdles to health-care reform
Here are the five most contentious proposals that could derail the attempt to remedy health care’s dysfunction this time: See Vital Signs.
Expanding home-buyer tax credit to all is on the table
Is there any possibility that the tax credit for first-time home buyers will be expanded to also include repeat purchasers who already own a house but would like to move up? I understand there has been some movement in Congress along these lines. See Realty Q&A.
See the week’s Top 10 news and analysis stories.
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