Personal Finance News

RATES RISE: Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages rose this week to their highest levels since mid-March. Even with the gains, they remained close to historic lows.

Former World War II Army squad leader and Medal of Honor recipient Vernon McGarity has died at age 91, a funeral home said Thursday.

U.S. sales of new homes rose in April and nearly matched the fastest pace in five years, driving the median price to a record high.

Remember that Obama campaign ad featuring Mitt Romney singing "America the Beautiful" to scenes of Caribbean islands where the GOP nominee had invested some of his considerable wealth? So do Republican senators who plan to question Commerce Secretary nominee Penny Pritzker about her own off-shore assets at a confirmation hearing today, a ... (more)

New home sales edged slightly higher once again in April as the housing market continues to give a lift to the U.S. economy.

Average rates on fixed mortgage rose for the third straight week, hitting their highest levels since mid-March. Still, mortgage rates remained close to historic lows, a trend that should help sustain the housing recovery.

Seven million college students are on track to see their federal loan rates double this year unless Congress acts ahead of a July 1 deadline when subsidized Stafford loan rates will increase from 3.4% to 6.8%. The U.S. House will vote Thursday on a Republican plan to head off the increase inspired by an unlikely source: President Obama.

* A board member at Italy's troubled lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena is being investigated over allegations of breaking insider trading rules and has been suspended, a judicial source said on Wednesday.

While most people realize that their personal creditworthiness is tracked on something called a credit report, few know much about it or their scoring system.

Canada's housing market is slowing dramatically in terms of both sales and construction, dragging down economic growth and putting some 150,000 jobs at risk in coming years, a mortgage industry association warns in its spring report.

Wynn Resorts kept a suite open all year at its tony Las Vegas hotel and casino for founder and CEO Steve Wynn, at a cost of nearly $452,000. Former IBM CEO Samuel Palmisano was guaranteed an administrative assistant and furnished office for life as a retirement gift -- plus a $1 million office renovation.

Stocks fell in afternoon trading Wednesday on news that several Federal Reserve policymakers in a meeting earlier this month favored cutting back on stimulus programs as early as June if the economy continued to improve.

Mark O'Donnell usually books his family's summer vacation in January. For the last dozen years, that meant reserving an oceanfront house for a week in Long Beach Island, a quiet cluster of beach towns on the New Jersey shore.

For a talented, creative few, there's David Letterman. For most, there's a labyrinth of paperwork, hard decisions and painful sacrifices that could have dramatic repercussions on their financial health decades from now.

Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Wednesday that the U.S. job market remains weak and that it is too soon for the Federal Reserve to slow its extraordinary stimulus programs.

In this Tuesday, April 2, 2013, photo, Sam and Liz Weidner, of Hudsonville, Mich., view a home for sale in Lowell, Mich.

Attorney Mike Raulston questions Catoosa County sheriff Gary Sisk during an appeals hearing heard by the county Board of Commissioners.

RapidAdvance is takings its easy money message to the airwaves with its first TV advertising campaign.

When Ben Bernanke testifies about the U.S. economy Wednesday, the Federal Reserve chairman's words will be examined for any clues that the Fed might soon taper - or increase - its support for the economy.

April brings a 22nd consecutive month of growth with sales up 9 percent compared to the month previous.