Why You Should Be Wary Of Investing In A Hedge Fund

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-hedge-funds-may-not-be-right-for-you-2012-08-20?grcc=a7f24c54a647d13131fa762b3b407132Z3ZhpgeZ0Z107Z200Z129Z2&mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_personalfinance&grcc2=ec81c45fe8b322c6cfd0d5d080866c1d~1345583764374~18f3b45caef80572d421f68a979bd6dc~joefulwiler~1345574637221~3~2~0~0~0~107~200~129~0~2~

They don't reliably beat a plain vanilla S&P 500 index fund.

Fed Govt is taking people's Social Security benefits for unpaid student loans

http://www.smartmoney.com/borrow/student-loans/grandmas-new-financial-problem-college-debt-1344292084111/?grcc=a4f895e7054a7059c6202ead76abe9fcZ3ZhpgeZ0Z945Z200Z122Z2&mod=WSJ_hps_sections_personalfinance&grcc2=42c73cb69dec487e83620f173e1812d4~1344450110805~18f3b45caef80572d421f68a979bd6dc~joefulwiler~1344450032742~3~2~0~0~0~945~200~122~0~2~

This is going to leave some seniors in a very tough spot financially.

The dangers of a Do It Yourself will

http://www.gftpln.org/Article.do?orgId=450&articleId=16968

The data is in - tort reform is baloney

http://www.statesman.com/opinion/tort-reforms-slight-impact-no-shock-2402843.html

Just another example of wealthy special interest groups buying off legislators.  

Finally - some bankruptcy relief for student loans on the horizon

The growth of student debt is stirring debate about whether the government should step in to ease the burden by rewriting the bankruptcy laws—again.

In 2005, Congress prohibited student debt from being discharged through bankruptcy, except in rare cases, because of concerns that many young graduates—who often have no major assets such as a house or a car—would be tempted to walk away from loan obligations.

Some lawmakers now want to temper that position, pointing to concerns that a significant number of Americans could be buried under education loans for decades. Their efforts, however, would apply only to private loans—a fraction of the market.

In the past decade student debt has surged as tuition and enrollment climbed. At the same time, college graduates' earnings have declined. The average debt load of all new graduates rose 24%, adjusted for inflation, from 2000 through 2010, to $16,932, says the Progressive Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank in Washington. Over the same period, the average earnings of full-time workers ages 25 to 34 with no more than a bachelor's degree fell by 15% to $53,539.

Terri Reynolds-Rogers, a 57-year-old health-program manager from Palmer, Alaska, declared bankruptcy in 2007, but still has $152,000 in student debt. She said she dropped out of medical school in 1999 to care for her two children after her husband died of brain cancer.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303978104577364120264435092.html?mod=WSJ_hps_sections_careerjournal

Student Loan Debt Tops $1 Trillion

The amount Americans owe on student loans is far higher than earlier estimates and could lead some consumers to postpone buying homes, potentially slowing the housing recovery, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

Total student debt outstanding appears to have surpassed $1 trillion late last year, said officials at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a federal agency created in the wake of the financial crisis. That would be roughly 16% higher than an estimate earlier this year by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303812904577295930047604846.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsForth

Consumer Protection to regulate debt collectors and credit bureaus

http://www.cnbc.com/id/46414250/Credit_Report_Firms_Debt_Collectors_Face_New_Oversight

This sounds like good news to me.