BUSINESS
January 17, 2010 | By Ann Marsh
Fire and the resultant threat of flooding and mudslides forced Bronwen Aker from her family's longtime home in the Big Tujunga Wash -- and devastated her finances. Single after two divorces, she was living in the forest home she inherited from her grandmother when the Station fire rushed through last summer. The house survived, but the fire denuded the ground and severely increased the risk of flooding, compelling her to move out. Now, the 45-year-old Web developer is paying rent on a house in Canoga Park while also shelling out for taxes and other expenses on the home in Big Tujunga.
BUSINESS
January 2, 2010 | Tom Petruno, Market Beat
Here's a way to make your head explode in one hour or less: Start reading forecasts for the economy and markets in 2010 and try to decide who's likely to be right. Will interest rates rise? Will the recession return? Will the banking system crash again? And what kind of surprises, good or bad, might come out of left field? Every year is a crapshoot for forecasters, but this one is as tough a call as ever because there are so many outsized uncertainties involving government, companies and consumers in the aftermath of the financial-system meltdown.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
December 30, 2009 | By Dana Parsons
Kelsey Steinke thought of herself as a fairly bright college student -- except when it came to managing personal finances. "I knew very little," she said. "Not much at all." Compared to some of her peers, however, she was a downright prodigy. "I mean, there are some girls who don't know how to do laundry," she said. "If they can't do their laundry, how can they handle their finances?" That less-than-kind reality, coupled with a troubled economy that has frightened both novices and experts, has spurred renewed interest in teaching financial literacy to high school and college-age and younger students.
BUSINESS
December 20, 2009 | By Kelly Barron >>>
Like many people who work on the less-than-glamorous fringes of the entertainment business, Hollywood location manager Dale Dreher does really well some of the time. The trouble is he doesn't always have a job. And that has made providing a reliable income for his wife, Ronnie, and two boys something of a struggle -- particularly over the last year. "I'm not sleeping well, that's for sure," said Dreher, 44, a freelancer like many people in his line of work. "Even when I'm making money, I'm still stressed because I have no plan for the future."
BUSINESS
November 10, 2009 | Cyndia Zwahlen
Bashing pint-size radio-controlled monster trucks around bumpy dirt tracks has always been a blast for Dan Dunst, who opened a hobby shop specializing in the pricey toys near downtown Los Angeles last year. But his store, VG Racing, was soon broadsided by the sour economy. Sales at the shop and its online sites have slipped over the last six months, and now Dunst and his wife, Sarah, have to figure out whether the company can continue. "I'm being run over," said Dunst, 50, who also designs and manufacturers custom roll cages for the zippy vehicles that sell for $250 to $800 or more.
BUSINESS
September 26, 2009 | TOM PETRUNO
Quick -- you have one minute to answer this question: If you had to make a decision today to reallocate money in your 401(k) plan or other investment account, would you sell stocks to buy bonds or sell bonds to buy stocks? This isn't just an academic exercise, of course. With the dramatic resurgence of financial markets since March, millions of investors are staring at their portfolios with a mix of joy and apprehension. People who stayed put in stocks and bonds have recouped a huge chunk of what was lost in the September-to-March crash.