Savings Accounts

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday began taking complaints about bank checking and savings accounts as it continues to expand its operations. “Deposit accounts play a critical role in the lives of most Americans, but these products and the laws governing them are complicated,” said the bureau's director, Richard Cordray.  “Consumers need someone on their side to keep banks and credit unions accountable - that is our job at the consumer bureau.” The agency said it expects to hear a variety of complaints, including problems related to opening and closing accounts, dealing with low account balances and using debit or ATM cards.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday began taking complaints about bank checking and savings accounts as it continues to expand its operations. “Deposit accounts play a critical role in the lives of most Americans, but these products and the laws governing them are complicated,” said the bureau's director, Richard Cordray.  “Consumers need someone on their side to keep banks and credit unions accountable - that is our job at the consumer bureau.” The agency said it expects to hear a variety of complaints, including problems related to opening and closing accounts, dealing with low account balances and using debit or ATM cards.

The number of health savings accounts, tax-free plans President Bush said could increase healthcare coverage, doubled to more than 1 million in the six months ended in March, an insurer group said Wednesday. About 37% of those who bought the plans had been without health insurance, said Karen Ignagni, president of America's Health Plans, a trade group that represents such insurers as Aetna Inc. and PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. About 438,000 people had the plans in September.

Apparently, some people were expecting a more subdued Newt Gingrich to emerge after two straight losses in the Republican presidential campaign. Nope. Coming off a double-digit shellacking in Nevada, a state Mitt Romney carried in 2008, Gingrich waved off the results as expected and vowed to press on despite a lack of debates in the coming weeks that might keep him in the spotlight. He's said he hopes to close Romney's widening delegate lead by the Texas primary in April. As he did after Saturday's caucuses, Gingrich railed against Romney on two Sunday morning TV shows, attacking the former governor's record leading Massachusetts.

In the final days and hours before Congress approved a historic overhaul of the Medicare program, when Republican leaders were scrambling to attract or hold onto the votes of the most conservative members, their most powerful argument was reduced to a three-word mantra: health savings accounts. Originally valued at $174 billion over 10 years, these unique tax shelters never had anything to do with Medicare or prescription drugs.

Enrollment in high-deductible insurance plans that qualify for contributions to tax-sheltered health savings accounts -- the Bush administration's way of adding market forces to the health business -- tripled to 3 million people in the last 10 months, the health insurance industry reported Thursday.

An old-fashioned statement savings account remains a bargain for many small savers, particularly those with less than $1,000 to deposit, a survey by the Consumer Federation of America and San Francisco Consumer Action found. "Most institutions do not penalize low-balance statement savings account holders with interest-rate reductions or excessive fees," the study said. While there are monthly or quarterly fees, they often are not charged unless an account drops below $100.

Glendale Federal Bank, one of the largest thrifts in the U.S., said it will offer medical savings accounts. The Glendale-based thrift said it will be the first in the state to offer the accounts, which enable customers to set aside funds earmarked for health expenses. Contributions are tax deductible. More financial institutions are expected to begin offering the accounts in a bid to attract customers.

The Treasury Department issued rules Monday governing how companies will market tax-free savings accounts that Americans can use to pay for medical expenses under the new Medicare law. The so-called health savings accounts, included in the Medicare overhaul legislation President Bush signed into law Dec. 8, are designed for Americans in health plans with high out-of-pocket costs and those who anticipate needing long-term care when they retire.

Sounding key themes in this year's education debate, the Republic-led House voted Thursday to expand tax-free savings accounts to cover payments for private or religious school tuition along with other school expenses. The vote was 225-197. The bill also is expected to clear the Senate, but President Clinton has promised to veto it. Republicans and a few Democrats presented the measure as giving families more power over education spending.

The Federal Reserve has pledged to keep interest rates at near rock-bottom levels for another couple of years. That's a shift from the central bank's previous plan to lock in rates near zero through mid-2013. The change should help reassure consumers that they can continue to borrow cheaply, extending an era of free money designed to stimulate the still limping economy. Investors sure liked it: Major stock indexes catapulted higher after the announcement. The Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 index erased earlier losses and were most recently up about half of a percent.

Frequent-flier miles clearly have value — why else would people want them? But do they also represent taxable income? Citibank seems to think so. It's sending tax forms to people who received thousands of miles as a reward for opening a checking or savings account. Those forms value each mile at about 2.5 cents and list the total dollar amount as miscellaneous income. This is news to tax pros. "I've been practicing for 25 years and I've never had an instance where miles have been treated as taxable," said Gregg Wind, a West Los Angeles certified public accountant.

1. Which of these hit an all-time high in 2011? A. The price of oil B. Retail sales on the day after Thanksgiving C. Goldman Sachs' stock price D. The U.S. unemployment rate 2. What was French President Nicolas Sarkozy referring to when he said, "What has happened must never happen again"? A. The arrest of International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn B. Moammar Kadafi-style leadership in Libya C. The European debt crisis D. A Kardashian wedding 3. According to Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs, the late Apple co-founder accused a rival of copying a product, saying, "I will spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank to right this wrong.

When you apply for a mortgage to buy a house, how often does the lender ask detailed questions about monthly energy costs or tell the appraiser to factor in the energy-efficiency features of the house when coming up with a value? Hardly ever. That's because the big three mortgage players — Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration, which together account for more than 90% of all loan volume — typically don't consider energy costs in underwriting. Yet utility bills can be larger annual cash drains than property taxes or insurance — key factors in standard underwriting — and can seriously affect a family's ability to afford a house.

Like a lot of middle-aged people these days, Nancy Lomen, 50, is thinking about retraining for a new career. What the San Gabriel resident and her husband, Bill, 64, are trying to figure out is whether a $60,000 investment in Nancy's education is a smart bet at their ages. They have two children, one in college and another who will be in college next year, and little in the way of retirement savings. "I've been thinking and dreaming about becoming a registered nurse midwife for a good 10 years," Nancy said.

College savings 529 plans, which allow individuals to save money for higher education in tax-free investment accounts, have proved so popular that there are now about 10 million of the accounts nationwide, according to Financial Research Corp. Funds saved in the state-sponsored accounts can also be spent tax-free, but you have to follow the rules. • Anyone — parents, grandparents, friends — can set up 529 plans for prospective college students. You can even establish one for yourself.

President Bush may enjoy the best healthcare in America, and for free, too. But that didn't stop him this week from setting up a tax-deferred health savings account. As president, he has championed such accounts as a way to make health insurance more affordable, and Congress created them last year in the same legislation that provided prescription drug coverage to some seniors. The accounts allow workers to save money tax-free to spend on medical expenses.

My aunt is in a nursing home. They tell us she isn't allowed to leave unless she gets the doctor's permission. If she does, she has to sign a statement saying she doesn't hold them liable and will lose all her healthcare coverage. She is on Medicare. Can you help? For starters, no doctor or any other healthcare provider has the authority to strip you of your health insurance benefits, including Medicare, the federal program for senior citizens. There are requirements that must be met in order for Medicare to cover some of the cost of your aunt's current stay in the skilled nursing facility, or SNF. However, it's unlikely that the care she's already received from the home would be denied because she left against the doctor's orders.

Who: David Moehlman Annual income: $113,000 Assets: $1.7-million net worth: $491,000 in five condominiums, $690,000 in mutual funds and savings accounts, and $542,000 in mutual fund retirement accounts Debts: None Recommendations: Diversify $1.2 million invested 100% in mutual funds exclusively holding U.S. stocks: Put 50% into funds holding U.S. stocks, 13% into funds holding international stocks and 30% into...