Kevin Colby: News, culture, political blog

Some interesting articles from Clark Howard’s website:

Americans now saving a nickel out of every dollar

CLARKONOMICS: Over the last several years, we as Americans became “negative net savers” — a pointy-headed term that simply means we spent more money than we made. It got to the point where the average family debt versus income had roughly doubled in less than 10 years.   Read the full story.

Cash-out refinances going away as of April 1

Clark has always despised cash-out refinances — the kind where you refi your mortgage for more than you owe so you walk out with cash. This was very common over the past 10 years and it’s been a part of the foreclosure problem.  Read the full story.

Dollar cost averaging through the Great Depression

CLARKONOMICS: Dollar cost averaging is an idea that Clark has touted a lot recently. Yet many people are still skeptical about this concept of putting equal amounts of money into the market month-by-month — much like you would by making a monthly or bi-weekly contribution to your 401(k) at work.  Read the full story.