Results tagged “banking” from iVillage - Beehive

Unfortunately in these tough economic times the propsects of debt, bankruptcy and foreclosure are becoming an all-too-real nightmare for some. Navigating these challenges can be difficult, but CNBC's Carmen Wong Ulrich offers some insight for these iVillagers' questions:

We are filing Chapter 7 next week. We have a mortgage and equity loan with two different companies and the total of those balances is now over what our home value is by about $30K. Should we think about adjusting our mortgage to either what the value really is or at least change the ARM to fixed? Our ARM changes in a year and a half and when that happens we won't be able to pay it! Our mortgage [payments] are currently 45% of our gross income. Even with filing Chapter 7 we will barely be able to get by, but we don't want to give the house up. -- desertrat4

Each week CNBC's Carmen Wong Ulrich of "On the Money" will answer selected questions from iVillagers about personal finance, the economy and how you can get control of your money.

It's hard to make sense of the recent fluctuations in the market and what to do next. Carmen weighs in on this topic:

"Turning on the news is uber-depressing lately... yet so necessary to figure out what the heck is going on. So has this made you more concerned with the state of affairs at your primary financial institution? Are you diversifying more? Consolidating? Sitting tight?" -- huffjoann

Have you made any changes in your strategy in light of recent events? Do you have a comment or would you like to submit a question for consideration? Post your thoughts here and check out all of Carmen's answers in our other videos.

Watch Carmen Wong Ulrich's 'On The Money' Weeknights 9PM EST on CNBC! Find more information on coping with the economy with our Bail Yourself Out resources.

Each week CNBC's Carmen Wong Ulrich of "On the Money" will answer selected questions from iVillagers about personal finance, the economy and how you can get control of your money. In this segment, Carmen responds to a common fear around the community after the recent parade of bank buyouts:

"I still have a job, DH (dear husband) still has a job; we pay our mortgage and all other bills. We've been trying for years to get ahead with our credit cards. We're finally there. We now can put away money because we have no more credit card payments. I'm just not sure if it's really a good idea to keep using our bank because it's going to be bought out by another bigger one." - misshelms

How are you faring in this economy? Do you have a comment or would you like to submit a question for consideration? Post your thoughts here and check out all of Carmen's answers in our other videos.