The Baltimore Sun's
Eileen Ambrose has been writing on taxes, retirement, saving for college and other personal finance issues since 1999. Got questions? She'll try to find answers. She also contributes to the blog
Credit card issuers market additional services that consumers don't need
With so many ethics scandals, do ethics classes work in the business world?
CFPB, charged specifically to protect seniors, has been soliciting comments on just how bad financial exploitation of the elderly really is. Answer: pretty bad
Tax policy wonks say sales tax holidays are a waste. But try telling that to retailers and consumers.
Merchants haven't been allowed to add a surcharge to credit card purchases, but that would change under an agreement announced last month to settle a seven-year legal dispute.
Debit cards are a convenient way for students to receive financial aid, but students can find their aid eaten up by fees.
In his new book, Crazy Little Risk Called Love, Yuval Bar-Or suggests the tools that savvy investors use to minimize their losses can help us reduce our risks in love.
Tax professionals discuss strategies in a year when no one is sure where taxes are headed.
Support grows among government agencies to allow private student loans to be discharged in bankruptcy.
Legg Mason reports loss following costs related to restructuring its debt.
Betamore, to open in September, will be a place that entrepreneurs — for a monthly membership fee — can temporarily call home while getting access to the mentoring and networking needed to turn ideas into viable products.
It's a mixed bag for consumers wanting some financial recognition for what they've gone through without power and services.
Employers ask job candidates all sorts of quirky questions. But are they helpful?
The tax season was over in April for most of us, but for some consumers their tax headaches are only about to begin.
The CFPB new report on reverse mortgages find that people are taking them out earlier than ever and running into greater financial risk.
You're likely part of the largest financial scandal in the world today if you have adjustable rate mortgage or a private student loan.
Once the winds die down, the water recedes or the fire is doused, shady contractors appear on the scene to make affected homeowners victims twice over.
New federal regulations require workers to start getting annual fee disclosures
SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro is meeting stiff resistance to an attempt to further regulate money market funds.
New Web tool grades banks, large and small, on their lending to small businesses.
Workers in many fields today are dealing with uncertainty. But Sparrows Point employees have had more than their fair share.
When it comes to a college education, students often don't have a clear idea of what they'll end up paying or whether one school is offering a better aid package than another. A standardized financial aid award letter would help
How 21,000 wealthy Americans managed to avoid owing federal income taxes.
Maryland brokers and advisors say Facebook IPO sours investors on the stock market.
ID theft of tax refunds on the rise and how victims can respond.
Money may be tight, but not enough for most of us to forego a summer vacation.
Maryland to launch program to stimulate small businesses lending
Identity theft is a growing problem with tax returns, and taxpayers can spend more than a year trying to clear up the mess
Maryland financial institutions will be required to report suspected fraud against seniors.
Prepaid debit cards are everywhere these days — and so are their fees.
Building a house or undertaking a major home renovation is an expensive project for consumers — and a nightmare if the builder or contractor doesn't live up to its side of the bargain.
Regulators nationwide are pushing life insurers to do a better job of tracking when policyholders die and locating the beneficiaries — an effort that potentially could recover billions of dollars for consumers.
The thrill of potentially winning big bucks gets people to spend millions of dollars regularly on lottery tickets. Can this same concept excite Marylanders to become better savers?
Finally, a spotlight will be shone on a widespread business practice that forces unhappy customers to settle disputes through binding arbitration rather than by telling their story in court.
Some of the highlights for consumers following Maryland legislative session
So the tax deadline is here and you don't have the money to pay the bill. You might have more options than you know — from the Internal Revenue Service.
T. Rowe Price survey finds young investors less inclined to invest in IRAs. Youth is wasted in these investors.
New report warns of problems with yo-yo financing.
T. Rowe Price survey finds young investors less inclined to invest in IRAs. Youth is wasted in these investors.
Opponents of the Affordable Care Act should be careful about wishing it would go away.
Dividends, once out of favor, are now a hot item, with Apple joining dividend payers this summer.
Scholarship providers aren't just going by the application to learn about students. They're checking them out online.
Maryland weighs banning insurance practice in which consumers must buy multiple lines of coverage from the same company.
Most of us know the basics about Social Security, but there's a lot more to the program.
Maryland passes same-sex marriage. How does that change the personal finances for gay and lesbian couples here?
Consumers are sometimes shocked to find that their rebates are taxable.
Workers' confidence about their retirement is at a near-record low. Fewer are salting away money for their later years and the majority have less than $25,000 in savings and investments.
PNC is one of the few institutions that offer "second chance" checking accounts
Starting this year, individual tax preparers in Maryland must register with the state before they can fill out a return for a fee.
As concern grows over child identity theft, Maryland is considering legislation that would make the state the first to protect a youngster's credit report.
It's bad enough being hounded by collection agencies for debt that's yours. Imagine calls from fake debt collectors in India threatening to have you arrested for not repaying payday loans you don't owe.
Until recently, retirement planning focused on helping workers accumulate savings. Now, the Treasury Department is making sure retirees don't run out of money.
Personal finance guru Suze Orman says she never would have introduced her prepaid debit card if there wasn't a possibility that some day it could be used in credit scoring. Credit experts are doubtful.
Researchers say that people who don't like the way they handle money tend to marry partners with opposite financial traits.
Financial moves parents can make that are a gift to children.
Marylanders on average have the highest income in the country, but when it comes to having a financial cushion in hard times we're disappointingly mediocre.
What happens to once-promising stocks that now sell for little or no money.
Petitions and similar online campaigns represent a huge shift in consumer empowerment.
New regulation that requires workers to get fee information is due to take effect this year, although it might be delayed.
Professor challenges ideas about allowances
Many consumers this New Year will resolve to pay off their credit cards, and their intentions are in the right place. But how they go about it is likely to be wrong, according to a recent study by the University of Michigan.
How to teach the miracle of compounding to kids when interest rates are so low.
Tax season is here, where to get free help.
Two Marylanders describe their efforts to get out of debt.
As usual, many of us will wind up spending more than we want, despite our thrifty intentions. Tips to avoid overspending.
Investment outlook for 2012: Continued volatility, but brighter predictions for U.S. stocks
Beware of fake checks and other schemes.
Planners use simple benchmarks to help clients see if their savings levels measure up.
Lawmakers asking consumer bureau to look at whether credit card regulation is hurting stay-at-home spouses
Besides Black Friday and Cyber Monday, surveys show there are other days of the year to nab great bargains.
Don't automatically shred those credit card offers arriving in your mailbox. They just might contain an attractive rewards program
Tens of thousands of Marylanders could benefit from two initiatives by the Obama Administration to ease the burden of federal student loans.
Airfares can fluctuate even within the span of a few hours, but the direction of holiday travel prices is one way: up.
Year-end tax planning these next several weeks will be refreshingly straightforward for a change.
Consumers are more interested in switching banks given debit card fees.
Health care costs rose faster than inflation and wages this year, and that's a trend many workers will continue to see when they get their open enrollment packets in next few weeks.
Consumers disappointed when their credit scores aren't the highest.
FTC looks into whether consumers need more protections while buying a car.
Without a national solution, consumers are left on their own to plan for the possibility that someday they might need outside help to remain in their house, or might even spend time in a nursing home.
That unfamiliar incoming call to your cellphone soon might be from a debt collector.
For Eddie Germino, being unemployed for a time last year worked to his advantage in a dispute with his Maryland landlord.
Families will soon have access to calculators that tell them how much they will have to pay for college.
The Census Bureau reported last week that the number of "doubled-up households" — those that have an extra adult who is not a student or partner — rose to 21.8 million from spring 2007 to 2011. More than half of this doubling up came from so-called "boomerang" children moving back home..
The number of borrowers defaulting on federal student loans continues to rise in Maryland and elsewhere. But many of these defaults are likely unnecessary even in today's long and painful economic recovery.
Help still is available for Marylanders at risk of losing their home because they lost a job, their pay was cut or earnings reduced because of an illness.
Maryland's Health Education and Advocacy Unit can help with medical bill disputes and insurer denials
Even though nearly 14 million unemployed Americans are searching for work, some employers limit their hiring to preferred candidates: people who already have jobs.
Breaking up with a bank can be hard to do — and expensive if you don't do it right.
Some traditional lenders offer what consumer advocates call payday loans
The weak economy, depressed home values and high job insecurity are making parents and students more cost-conscious when it comes to college
Last week's column on a little-known state group that helps consumers with medical disputes generated emails from readers asking if organizations exist that can help them tackle other problems.
In the midst of the gloom on Monday shone one bright spot: Borrowers may be able to get better rates on mortgages and other loans.
The silver lining in all this economic upheaval lately — low interest rates on consumer borrowing.
If there's one silver lining to the market volatility of the last two weeks, it's that it gives us a peek at our real appetite for risk.
While it appears now that Congress has a deal to raise the nation's debt ceiling, credit unions weren't taking any chances.
Thirty million dollars was deposited with the nonprofit Investor Protection Trust to spread among the states through grants for investor education. But Maryland groups have barely tapped it in all this time
Consumer advocates learned this past weekend that they won't get their first choice to lead the new consumer protection agency. Despite the setback, this still is a big week for consumer protection.
The move by the federal government to end the sale of paper savings bonds at banks and credit unions next year is bad news for savers in more ways than one.
It was just a matter of time before businesses began to push back against some of the worst behaviors of extreme couponing.
Conduct your own treasure hunt for lost money. Such digging is fast and easy because states and the federal government post information online about inactive bank accounts, forgotten savings bonds and lost pensions.
Some banks soon will find it more difficult to slap consumers with overdraft fees — a boon to customers who discover that one misstep can lead to a cascade of penalties.
Ever so slowly, the unemployed are getting hired. And if you're one of them, your other job now is to get your finances back on track.
For many small investors, some of the companies they are most familiar with are the e-commerce and social media sites they use every day.
The IRS says it will take steps to ease up on American taxpayers.
You might not have paid attention to the fierce year-long battle between merchants and banks over debit cards, but you'll likely notice last week's outcome in your wallet.
For taxpayers who are also procrastinators, this is your year. Not only is the IRS asking those with more complex returns to hold off filing until mid-February, but the usual tax deadline has been extended three days to April 18 because of a holiday in Washington.
Auditors have raised doubts about First Mariner Bancorp's ability to remain in business, according to financial statements that the largest Baltimore-based bank founded by prominent businessman Edwin F. Hale Sr. filed with regulators late Thursday.
About 275,000 organizations automatically lost their tax-favored status — including 6,200 in Maryland — for failing to final annual reports for three years in a row.
If you are a low- to moderate-income taxpayer and you shell out any money to have your taxes done, you're likely paying too much.
Clearly, not all prepaid cards are created equal. That means to determine if you need a prepaid card — or which one would be right for you — you will have to do your homework sorting through all kinds of fees and services. Be prepared; it's not always easy.