While the $25+ billion settlement reached last week between five large mortgage servicers and 49 states was momentous, it may not help many borrowers in trouble.

 

Only about 1 million of the estimated 11 million underwater homeowners will see relief as loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac aren't included in the deal. Much of the settlement money will go toward mortgage modification.

 

Roughly 750,000 homeowners are slated to receive financial compensation from the accord (an average of about $2,000 per household). The lenders involved are JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Ally Financial, Citigroup and Wells Fargo; other banks could join them.

 

To learn more, you can visit the national mortgage settlement web site which will provide more details.

 

Will this initial public offering (IPO) live up to all the hype? There are lessons to be learned from the dot-com (and dot-bomb) years in the 1990's. (Read more) 

 

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A noted economist disputes that generalization. 

 

True or false? You may have heard this claim before (or something like it): "Many Americans are being forced to retire later because their savings and investments took a hit in the Great Recession."

 

Recently, a big-name economist disputed that belief.In a commentary for Bloomberg, former White House budget director Peter Orszag wrote that some of the statistics don't seem to back up this conventional wisdom, but perhaps it all depends on which statistics you cite. (Read more)

 

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