Ken Clark

I just published a fun article over on Investopedia.com that takes a look at some of Wall Street’s best jobs including being a fund manager, an investment banker, a broker to the stars, and a media personality.

If you’ve ever dreamt about one of these cushy jobs or wondered what it takes to land one of them, give the article a read.

Wall Street’s Best Jobs on Investopedia.com

In case you didn’t hear my radio interview with the wonderful women over at the Christian Work At Home Moms Network, you can listen to it right here. Enjoy!

The new book is finally available on-line and in stores nationwide. Be sure to order a copy today, from one of these great retailers:

BarnesAndNoble.com

Amazon.com

Borders.com

One of my favorite journalists, Michelle Goodman, just wrote a very timely article for ABCNews.com about people finding themselves in the tough situation of having to lay off household employees.

She was kind enough to include my thoughts on some of the psychological and relational aspects of this, as well as some tips for cutting household expenses.

In addition to checking out the article, be sure to check out Michelle’s new book on the freelancing lifestyle, My So Called Freelance Life: How to Survive and Thrive as a Creative Professional for Hire.

ABC News.com - Pink Slips: First You, Then the Help

Here’s an article that ran in the La Opinion newspaper about the psychological effects of the financial crisis on families. The writer, Yolanda Arenales, was kind enough to include a few of my opinions in the article.

Although I can’t read it (my Spanish is pretty shoddy), I’m pretty flattered.

Read the entire article here.

With more people than ever scrambling to get out of debt, the topic of “debt settlement” has become a hot one. Part of the rise in interest has been fueled by the recent flurry of commercials from companies offering to settle your debts for pennies on the dollar.

Yet, debt settlement is one of those things I feel like I’m constantly encouraging people to think very carefully about. Not so much because it’s not a good idea in principle, but because the credit counselors, collection agencies, and creditors often go back on their promises or include fine print that ends up costing you way more than you thought.

Consider the following story just sent to me by a member of my Getting Out of Debt MySpace group:

“I tried to settle with the largest credit card company I had. They agreed to an amount of around $1,800 which I came up with, except $180.

But they wouldn’t take a check or money order. They asked for my checking account info (which I gave to them) to do an electronic draft… that is when everything went horribly wrong.

Because I didn’t come up with the entire amount they decided not to settle, but didn’t tell me about it until afterwards. Nonetheless, they used my information to take THE ENTIRE AMOUNT out of my checking account. They took just shy of two entire paychecks which threw me grossly into overdraft and gave me yet another debt to pay.

A friend has referred me to an attorney and he advised that I now file bankruptcy…”

As I’ve mentioned a number of times in The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Getting Out of Debt, debt settlement rarely works as cleanly as the commercials portray. Be sure to do your homework, read the fine print, and consider every other option before you make a commitment. 

If you are going to settle, send them a certified check or money order. Remember, even your personal checks have account information on them that can be exploited by unscrupulous debt collectors.

-Ken Clark, CFP

If you have a Twitter account and would like to receive personal finance tips and tricks, all you’ve got to do is add me! 

My Twitter account is @KenClarkCFP.