Recently in Finances Category

Kenneth Lewis gambled on bold acquisitions to build Bank of America into the nation's largest bank.

The deals were there and, by most accounts, so were the shoppers. But at the close of the final holiday shopping weekend, consumers confessed they were still nervous about buying.

The auctioneer told the small crowd huddled outside the Talbot County Courthouse that the property would be sold "as is" -- rectory, bell tower, oak pews and rose-tinted stained glass windows included.

A California official is warning that the state will run out of money in about two months unless a budget deal is struck. State Controller John Chiang said Monday that his office could be forced to defer billions of dollars in payments or issue IOUs.

Tens of millions of Americans have already suffered substantial financial losses in the wake of the sub-prime mortgage crisis and subsequent financial challenges. A new survey from The Barna Group shows that more than 150 million adults said they have been affected by the economic turbulence, and most of them expect it to take several years before the nation fully recovers. 

When 85 new students enrolled this fall at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa, the numbers were "beyond our wildest dreams," said President Duane Larson. But the Lutheran school's board, looking at a 35 percent drop in its endowment value and a similar decline in individuals gifts, also had to face up to stark financial realities.

Last winter, Mary Evans was drowning in debt and despair. The 27-year-old Palatine native was emerging from a divorce. The mother of a 2-year-old child, Evans was $80,000 in student loan and credit card debt.

Washington National Cathedral plans to slash its budget dramatically and lay off 30 percent of its staff to close a widening budget gap, leaders said yesterday.

Because of a weak economy and cash-strapped donors, Focus on the Family said it is eliminating 202 jobs, the deepest cuts in the 32-year history of the Colorado Springs-based Christian nonprofit. The ministry laid off 149 workers, and cut another 53 vacant positions.

Bonnie Rabin is fond of saying that divorce lawyers are a bit like liquor stores. They're busiest in the really good times, and the really bad. These, of course, would be the bad times.