Debt Free Citizen

Posted on Tuesday, 19th April 2011 by Nicholas P

Now that Tax Day has come and gone numbers are being released about President Obama and his wife Michelles 2010 tax return. According to The Chronicle of Philanthropy, the first couple donated $245,075, or 14 percent of their income to charity last year. Their adjusted gross income reached $1.7 million in 2010.

In comparison, Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill donated just 1.4 percent of their income to charity. Their giving included $4,400 to eight charities and another $950 worth of clothing and household goods.

Wondering which charities the Obamas donated to? According to records the Obamas gave $131,075 to the Fisher House Foundation and $15,000 to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.

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Posted on Thursday, 14th April 2011 by Nicholas P

College graduates are dealing with more debt and hiring slump which is not a great combination. Nevada-based 8 News Now interviewed college student Raven Reid, who spends a lot of time adding up her student loans. I wouldnt be able to pay for books or anything. My moms a single parent, and she lives in L.A., and I dont like to ask her for money and things like that, she told the TV station. I hit my max last year, so I think that was about $6,000. So, $12,000 so far, and I still have another year.

Project Student Debt says students carry an average of $24,000 in student loans according to 2009 numbers. In total, student loan debt is expected to top a trillion dollars in 2011 which is an all-time high.

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Tags: College, College Students
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Posted on Sunday, 10th April 2011 by Gregory T

Our San Bernardino County foreclosure defense lawyers have written here before about the federal Hardest Hit fund, which granted money to states particularly affected by the housing crisis. California was one of those states, and it has used that money to start a series of programs collectively known as Keep Your Home California. Originally, eligibility was restricted to homeowners who had never taken out a home equity line of credit or refinanced for cash. As the Los Angeles Times reported April 6, such people will now be eligible for three of the four programs under Keep Your Home California. Eligibility was also expanded to include people whose loans originated after Jan.

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Tags: Housing, Housing Finance
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Posted on Saturday, 9th April 2011 by Nicholas P

As the tax deadline approaches, heres a great reminder that just because your accountant says something is OK, doesnt mean you wont be in trouble with the IRS. Former TV anchor Anietra Hamper kept meticulous records of her business purchase, but according to an article in The Columbus Dispatch, that didnt matter. A tax judge found that nearly all of the business expenses Hamper deducted from her tax returns from 2005-2008 werent valid. Now she faces a bill of nearly $20,000. “I would hate for anyone else to go through this,”38-year-old Hamper told the newspaper.

During her television career, Hamper deducted clothing she wore on air. Hamper worked as an anchor for WCMH and WBNS in Columbus. Ham

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Tags: Tax, Tax Bill
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Posted on Saturday, 9th April 2011 by Nicholas P

Losing your job can feel like your whole world is falling apart.  A job can be so much more than just a J-O-B, it can define you as a person.  When it is pulled out from underneath you with no warning, then your mind set can really be affected. Depression can rear its ugly head during times of high stress and pressure when your personal finances are falling apart.

If you are the main bread winner and you have the responsibility to support your family, loosing a job can soon turn to depression out of feelings of despair and disappointment. C

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Posted on Tuesday, 5th April 2011 by Gregory T

Our Riverside County predatory lending attorneys have written in the past about lawsuits accusing lenders of a practice called “reverse redlining.” The redlining familiar to students of U.S. history made it impossible or very difficult for buyers from racial minorities to buy homes in neighborhoods considered “white.” Reverse redlining, by contrast, steers minority buyers into higher-priced loans and neighborhoods considered appropriate for their racial backgrounds. In late 2009, a Los Angeles court certified a class-action lawsuit from borrowers who claim they were victims of reverse redlining by Wells Fargo Bank.

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Tags: Lawsuit, Million Lawsuit
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Posted on Saturday, 2nd April 2011 by Nicholas P

Elizabeth Taylor was laid to rest and now comes the question of her fortune. According to Popeater.com the actress had a fortune of between $600 million and $1 billion. Fifteen year old divorce documents claimed the actress was worth $608 million back in the mid-1990s. Now the work must be done to figure out where the money will go.

The website says that her jewelry collection alone was worth as much as $150 million back in 2002 and will be auctioned off to provide funds for the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation and amfAR. Elizabeth also made arrangements to split the rest of her fortune between her four children and other charities that she cared so much about, a close friend of the stars tells me.

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Tags: Fortune
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