A couple of interesting articles from Clark Howard: 11/24/2008

A couple of interesting articles from Clark Howard’s website:

Debt collectors facing tough times reclaiming money

Debt-collection agencies are reporting big losses, according to The Wall Street Journal. For example, one agency owned by Chase lost $15 million in the last 90 days because their level of collections has dropped. People are tapped out and you can’t squeeze blood from a turnip!

The Wall Street Journal also reports that as collectors are getting more desperate, they’re also engaging in more illegal activity to try to get money. There are reports of collectors cussing at people and threatening them with jail or physical harm. One caller to the show even told us that a collector told her 7 year old, “Mommy is going to jail.”

For more on the nuances of dealing with collectors, see Clark’s recent discussion of the issue.

Read the full Wall Street Journal story.

Staying in the market is critical in today’s climate

Should you stop contributing to your 401(k) or other retirement account and sell everything you’ve got? That’s a question that Clark hears from people multiple times a day.

Barron’s recently ran a story comparing our current market situation to the 1930s. These kinds of stories create anxiety that is not necessarily a bad thing when it comes to investing. During the last 20 or 30 years, we’d gotten to a place where we practically expected that money will grow if you just pop it in the market. This is now the first time many investors are experiencing rough seas. Read the full story.