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Now that several of the big banks' credit ratings have been downgraded, they may have to pay more to borrow money. And while the banks are hardly shy about passing higher costs on to their customers, many experts said they expected that the downgrade would have little effect -- at least in the near term -- on consumers. That means bank customers can expect to see more of the same: low yields on certificates of deposit and savings accounts, and low interest rates on mortgages -- if they can qualify. The banks have been adding and raising fees for some time now, but the experts said they did not expect a new round of charges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ask Jean Poole, a medical billing advocate, about her work helping people navigate the bewildering world of medical bills and insurance claims, and the stories pour out. There's the client who was billed almost $11,000 for an 11-minute hand surgery. The cancer patient who was charged $9,550.40 for a round of chemotherapy he never received. And then, there's the tale of the woman who came to Ms. Poole with a large rolling suitcase stuffed with bills for her 68-year-old husband, who had gone to the emergency room after he fell getting out of bed. The hospital's doctors discovered a series of problems -- kidney failure, blood and urinary tract infections, and a blood clot. Ultimately, he ended up staying in the hospital for two months and being transferred to a nursing home for rehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Michael Shreve, a 57-year-old science teacher in Marysville, Wash., has watched helplessly as mortgage rates have fallen. He said that despite his stellar credit score, no bank had been willing to let him trade in his 6.35 percent 30-year mortgage because his house was now worth less than when he bought it. ''At some point,'' he said, interest rates are going to go up again, ''and I should have been able to get those low rates. It's not fair.'' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

And though a recent federal appeals court ruling has provided some hope to gays and lesbians that their unions could potentially be recognized by the federal government, nothing has changed just yet. That means that same-sex couples, including those who live in states that recognize their unions, should take extra care when setting up their financial life with a partner or spouse. You can find some basic tool kits and resources on Web sites like Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Campaign. But if you want more tailored advice, you should try to seek out a professional who is well-versed in these issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As mortgage rates have hit one record low after another, millions of homeowners have been forced to watch, longingly, from the sidelines. They haven't had the option of refinancing because sliding home values pushed their mortgages underwater, meaning they owe more than their homes are worth. The banks would just not work with them. Yet many of these borrowers are gainfully employed, have solid credit histories and have never missed a mortgage payment. And they want to stay in their homes -- even if those homes are worth substantially less than they paid. These are the families that President Obama and other political leaders like to call ''responsible'' homeowners. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The new Mrs. Mark Zuckerberg might not have to worry much about money, but that doesn't mean she is automatically a billionaire. The timing of Mark Zuckerberg's marriage to his college sweetheart, Priscilla Chan, on Saturday, just a day after he took his company public, was certainly curious. Was he looking to clarify his net worth, which, with roughly 503 million shares, now stands at about $17 billion? And if true, many observers are speculating, did that have to do with the terms of a prenuptial agreement? The Zuckerbergs are not saying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

JPMorgan Chase's giant trading loss began as an effort to manage the bank's risks -- a move that turned into something that now looks more like a speculative bet. But don't think this is solely a big-bank problem. Even small investors can run into trouble discerning the fine line between hedging and risk taking. Investors can try to limit their risks by holding down their stock exposure through diversified investments. But many people are still depending on the market's engine -- perhaps more than they might think -- to maintain a comfortable lifestyle in retirement, say, or pay for their children's college educations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While President Obama's support for same-sex marriage is symbolic, his words have little power to erase the long list of extra costs and legal hurdles that same-sex couples face. For a more realistic chance at change, gay couples are probably better off looking to the courts. Several cases are winding their way through the judicial system, most of which challenge the Defense of Marriage Act, which was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996 and defines marriage as between one man and one woman. The myriad indignities that gay couples and their families regularly encounter are one reason many of them say they are fighting to dismantle the law. But the financial burden they also bear can be measured. And several court cases put that into stark focus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the law partners at Dewey & LeBoeuf, losing their jobs may be the least of their worries. They are likely to lose the money they were required to invest in the firm. They could lose their pensions. They may have to give back money they have already been paid. And even if creditors eventually agree to accept a small portion of what they are owed, the partners may owe taxes on the forgiven debt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When Ray White's son was about 9 years old, he struck a tree branch while riding his bike. Within minutes, an ambulance whisked him off to the emergency room. The boy recovered, but many months and phone calls later, Mr. White's insurance company still had not paid the $200 ambulance bill, even though the insurer had assured him it was covered. He finally decided it was easier to pay it himself. But by then, it was already too late. Unbeknown to Mr. White, the debt had been reported to the credit bureaus. It was only when he and his wife went to refinance the $240,000 mortgage on their home in Lewisville, Tex., last month -- nearly six years after the accident -- that he learned the bill had shaved about 100 points from his credit score. Even with no other debts, a healthy income and otherwise pristine credit, the couple had to pay an extra $4,000 to secure a lower interest rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In one of the first tests of its willingness to show its muscle, the new agency created to protect consumers declined on Thursday to put up a fight. The agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, introduced a proposal that would make it easier for credit card issuers to charge fees before borrowers' accounts were officially open. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Annette Alejandro just emerged from bankruptcy and doesn't have a job, and her car was repossessed last year. Still, after spending her days job hunting, she returns to her apartment in Brooklyn where, in disbelief, she sorts through the piles of credit card and auto loan offers that have come in the mail. ''Even I wouldn't make a loan to me at this point,'' Ms. Alejandro said. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Chronic unemployment is putting many couples' marital vows to the test -- particularly the part that refers to ''for richer, for poorer.'' With far less money coming in each month, many families have been forced to cut back, borrow money from family and friends and maybe even drain their savings. Millions, too, have lost their homes to foreclosure. And then there is the toll that joblessness is taking on their relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This week's Your Money column examines the best approach to rebalancing your investment portfolio -- in other words, reshuffling your investments back to their original mix to reduce your risks in the market. While most investors should periodically re-evaluate their portfolios to make sure they don't require any major changes, most of the time all investors need to do is a little maintenance. Perhaps you just need to sell a portion of your stock funds and buy some bonds so that you're not becoming too bloated in any one investment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

So much of our financial lives requires regular maintenance -- whether it's updating who's going to inherit what, checking that you're not paying too much for car insurance or making sure your investments, particularly your retirements savings, are still working for you. As the markets ebb and flow, the mix of investments that you originally put into place will probably change shape over time. And if you let your portfolio roam free for too long, your long-term plan can be thrown off kilter. Your retirement savings could become too heavily invested in stocks, potentially magnifying your losses when the market takes its next dive. Or your savings could become too conservative, and that's a problem, too. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Great Recession may have officially ended in June 2009, but its effects continue to weigh on many aspects of consumers' financial lives. The economy has not fully regained its footing,and many families are still struggling with joblessness, depressed home values and declining wages. But there are some signs of improvement, detailed in the chart below. Not only has the stock market rebounded from the plunge of 2008 to 2009, but it has also increased from the end of July 2006 -- the point at which housing prices peaked. Several other important economic measures have also turned a corner, including consumer confidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IMAGINE for a moment that your fairy godmother had appeared on Jan. 1, 2000. She told you that, over the coming decade, there would be two recessions, high unemployment and a major financial crisis that reverberated around the globe. With that guidance, would you have done anything differently with your retirement savings? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reverse mortgages have always been viewed as a last resort -- something that older retirees could turn to when they desperately needed to supplement their dwindling incomes. But in the wake of the housing market's collapse and high unemployment, a new study has found that people are using reverse mortgages to alleviate more urgent financial pressures, like paying off debt. And homeowners are applying for these loans at much younger ages than they have in the past. Reverse mortgages allow people age 62 and older to tap what may be their biggest asset, the equity in their home, without having to make any payments. Instead, the bank pays the borrowers, though they continue to be responsible for paying property taxes and homeowner's insurance. When borrowers are ready to sell (or when they die), the bank takes its share of the proceeds from the sale, and borrowers (or their heirs) receive whatever is left. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It's tax time, which means millions of Americans are probably in the midst of collecting the many documents needed to prepare their returns. When I was going through this exercise last week, I had to download a 1099 form from my bank's Web site, which naturally included all sorts of sensitive information. So how do you virtually shred these documents after you are done with them? Or how would you securely save a sensitive document like a completed tax return? [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

That's because they need to prepare multiple sets of tax returns: each partner needs to file a separate federal tax return since the federal government defines marriage as between a man and a woman (though some couples refuse to comply, but that's another story). So same-sex couples also need to prepare a dummy tax return as if they were filing jointly so that they can transfer that information onto their state returns, which they must file as a couple. The situation becomes ridiculously more complex for gay couples living in the three states that have both community property laws and recognize same-sex unions. In that case, officially partnered gay couples need to follow their state's community property laws on their federal returns -- even though they need to file separately. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration -- which allows a smaller down payment and has less stringent credit requirements than traditional mortgages -- are about to get a bit more expensive. But whether the higher costs will damp demand for these mortgages remains to be seen, experts say, since many borrowers have nowhere else to turn. The agency announced Monday that it would increase two types of fees that borrowers must pay. The goal, it said, is to help shore up its reserves, which had fallen sharply in the midst of the housing crisis, and to encourage private lenders to wade back into the still-struggling market. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

When it comes to negotiating a price on a new car, the script has not really changed much over the years: The dealer's salesman writes down a price, you counter and then he walks to the back of the showroom to talk with the manager to ''see what we can do.'' At least consumers no longer have to enter the process blind. Prospective buyers can educate themselves on Web sites like Edmunds and Kelley Blue Book and get suggested retail prices and find out how much their trade-ins are really worth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If you're one of the many people whose credit took a big hit during the Great Recession, you may be looking for ways to nurse your score back to health. And we've written about a variety of strategies and products, including secured credit cards, that can help you along. But I recently stumbled upon another credit-building product, conveniently known as a credit builder loan, that helps consumers establish credit or improve their scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After you hear the tale of Thomas Mitchell, a retiree living in Arizona, you may suddenly have the urge to run to the phone and call your auto insurer. And perhaps even your life insurer. And your cable company. And anyone else you may do business with. Most consumers know that they aren't going to get a courtesy call from their service providers telling them they qualify for a better deal. Yet they still fail to review their policies or contracts each year to make sure they're getting the lowest rates possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Federal Trade Commission signaled on Monday that it would continue to crack down on debt collectors who harass consumers for money they may not even be legally obligated to pay. In the second-largest penalty ever levied on a debt collector, the F.T.C. said that Asset Acceptance, one of the nation's largest debt collection companies, had agreed to pay a $2.5 million civil penalty to settle charges that the company deceived consumers when trying to collect old debts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Though the latest jobs report provided some reason for tempered optimism, older Americans who find themselves unemployed are typically out of work much longer than their younger peers. And that can make the road to retirement much more challenging. So in this week's Your Money column, I took a look at some of the tricks that older Americans might use to tide them over financially until they find work or manage to eke their way to retirement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving financial security in retirement is hard enough for most working Americans. But for those who lost their jobs just as the finish line was within sight, the whole notion may now seem out of reach. Older unemployed people face the double whammy of declining home values and an investment portfolio that has been treading water, at best. But they have also lost the one stabilizing factor that was supposed to see them through: a paycheck. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the start of a new year, many people resolve to shed their holiday paunch by hitting the gym more frequently. It's easy to stay motivated for a few weeks, but then other things seem to take precedence -- late nights at work, happy hour or the couch. So, what if it cost you $5 every time you missed the gym? Do you think you'd be more likely to go? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the federal government does not recognize same-sex marriage, such couples are viewed as strangers in many spheres of their financial lives. They need to file separate federal tax returns, for instance. And sometimes, that can come with certain advantages. Take the adoption tax credit. If you adopt your spouse's child, you cannot claim the credit. But since same-sex married couples are not considered spouses under federal law, they are permitted to use the credit -- at least until their unions are recognized. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There's no hiding now. Anyone who has recently applied for a mortgage knows that lenders are already looking much more closely at your financial affairs. But soon, they'll be able to easily delve into the deepest recesses of your financial life, accessing information that never before appeared on your credit report. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

So you've been keeping your head down, working as hard as you can -- glad, you tell yourself, that you even have a job. But you've been doing that for several years now. And in that time, the cost of your health insurance has gone up, along with college tuition, gasoline and a host of other things. Your pay, meanwhile, has been stagnant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do you have a chunk of credit-card debt that you keep bouncing from card to card to take advantage of an attractive balance transfer offer? Or have you opened new credit card accounts just so that you can collect extra miles or some other enticing bonus? If so, you might be curious about how all of this factors into your credit score. In a few words: it's probably not helping, but not for the reason you may think. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

These days, the odds of finding a savings account that carries a 5.1 percent interest rate are almost as good as your chances of, say, stumbling across a pot of gold. But such an account does indeed exist, with some caveats: it's attached to the new Union Plus prepaid card, which is available to members of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., which represents more than 12 million union members. But any worker can join Working America, an affiliate of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., to get access to the program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The housing market may have crashed in many parts of the country, but there is still a contingent of would-be buyers living an alternate reality. They make a decent living, they save, but it's still not enough to break into the gated communities formerly known as New York, Los Angeles and Boston. In these metropolitan areas and their outskirts, pricing is likely to end up higher, relative to local income, than it was before the housing bubble, according to Fiserv Case-Shiller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ON a recent Sunday evening, Wanda Urbanska and her family gathered around the table to catch up over cabbage and potato pierogies. Her 89-year-old mother, a retired college professor, sat across from Henry, her 14-year-old grandson, whose blue T-shirt matched the swaths of color in his hair. He told the women about the rave he attended the night before, where he ''jumped up and down for three hours.'' At the end of the night, Henry typically takes his grandmother by the arm and walks her home. She lives in a small cottage in the backyard, a few steps away from the table where they all dine together. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

LIKE many young married people, Steve and Logan Kinney dream of owning a home. So after several years of diligent saving, the couple, both teachers, scoured the listings in Boerum Hill, the leafy Brooklyn neighborhood where they rented. But before long, they realized that home ownership would require living within the four walls of a studio. And even that was a stretch. ''From what I've been told from TV, you are supposed to get a house,'' said Mr. Kinney, 27, referring to the progression of life after marriage. ''And then I get to sit in a nice chair.'' [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

CORRECTION APPENDED Bank of America blinked on Tuesday. The bank, the nation's second-largest, said it was abandoning its plan to charge customers a $5 fee to use their debit cards for purchases. Only a month earlier, the bank had announced the new charge, immediately setting off a huge uproar from consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Some big retirement plans offer investors the chance to hire an independent adviser that can help them choose their investments. But your plan provider will soon be able to offer the advice itself, as long as it meets rules issued recently by the Department of Labor. Before the new regulations, which are effective Dec. 27, 401(k), individual retirement plan providers were required to hire an independent adviser to provide advice. That's because the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the law known as Erisa that governs retirement plans, prohibited advisers from recommending investments if they were paid for other services like administering the plans in the first place. This was to avoid conflicts of interest where the administrator would put its own mutual funds on the menu and push them on participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It took five attempts for one prospective college student and her mother to fill out the 106-question federal form that would determine whether she would be eligible for financial aid. And that was not just because the form was frustratingly complicated. What tripped them up was the fact that the student had two legal mothers -- and the form had room for only one. Further confusing matters, her mothers had since split and married other women; they have six children among them. ''It was so stressful and so frustrating to try to fit our family into those forms when so clearly it wasn't going to fit,'' said the student, who is now a senior at a university in Illinois and wanted to remain anonymous to keep her family's financial affairs private. ''You feel like you are lying no matter what you do.'' [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Bank of America's new monthly debit card fee has been roundly criticized in recent weeks. But a new change in corporate policy change is likely to receive a much warmer reception. Starting next year, the nation's largest bank will begin reimbursing its employees with same-sex partners for the extra taxes they pay for health insurance - something that their married heterosexual co-workers don't have to worry about because the federal government recognizes them as an economic unit. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Federal Reserve's announcement last week that it intended to keep credit cheap for at least two more years was a clear invitation to Americans: Go out and borrow. But many economists say it will take more than low interest rates to persuade consumers, a crucial driver of the nation's economy, to take on more debt. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Now that gay marriage is legal in New York, legally wed couples will be subject to new state tax rules, which affect everything from income and sales taxes to estate planning. While New York recognized same-sex unions performed elsewhere before the state started issuing marriage licenses of its own last month, that recognition did not extend to tax matters. Now it does. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All the political wrangling over the budget in Washington has been focused on one theme: how much the government should cut and when those cuts should take effect. But for all of the difficulty lawmakers are having now, their hardest decisions may come this fall when they do battle over which government programs to cut back. And one program that has already been put on the table for discussion is Social Security, even though it has not contributed to the budget deficit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is not yet one of those stuff-your-money-in-a-mattress moments. Still, the talk in Washington of a federal budget crisis and possible default has given rise to all sorts of consumer fears of doomsday scenarios. Missed Social Security payments. Spikes in interest rates. Draconian cuts in government services. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

John C. Kenefick, a former chief executive of the Union Pacific Railroad who steered the company through an era of industry consolidation and deregulation, died on July 15 at his home in Omaha. He was 89. His death was confirmed by Bob Turner, the railroad's senior vice president of corporate relations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

With all the chatter about making potential changes to Social Security, many people are probably thinking that they should start collecting benefits as soon as they can. But that would be unwise, at least for many people. And a new calculator from AARP attempts to illustrate why you should wait -- if you can afford to, of course. Figuring out the optimal time to collect benefits is impossible because nobody can predict how long they'll live. Most people follow the bird in the hand philosophy and begin collecting as soon as they're eligible. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Now that same-sex marriage has been legalized in New York, at least a few large companies are requiring their employees to tie the knot if they want their partners to qualify for health insurance. Corning, I.B.M. and Raytheon all provide domestic partner benefits to employees with same-sex partners in states where they cannot marry. But now that they can legally wed in New York, five other states and the District of Columbia, they will be required to do so if they want their partner to be covered for a routine checkup or a root canal. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Starting later this month, if you're denied for a loan or don't qualify for the best interest rate, the lender must send you a free copy of the credit score it used to arrive at its decision. The new rule, which will go into effect on July 21 as part of the broader financial regulatory overhaul, will apply to credit cards, auto loans and student loans. In other words, it will apply to any type of credit-related decision that uses information in your credit report. (Lenders must continue to provide free credit scores to all mortgage applicants, even if you get the best loan terms available.) [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

After steadily climbing for several years, the number of Americans filing for bankruptcy is on the decline, though that is not necessarily an indicator of an improving economy. The number of bankruptcy filings in June was 120,623, or an average of 5,483 a day, a drop of 6.2 percent from May, when filings totaled 122,775, or 5,846 a day, according to a report from Epiq Systems, which tracks bankruptcy filings. There was one additional day to file in June compared with May. Average daily filings are down nearly 10 percent from June of last year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most people buy life insurance to protect against the risks of dying too soon. Now, there are new products offering the same protection if you live too long. It's known as longevity insurance, and there's clearly a huge market for it: Life expectancies are on the rise, cushy pensions are on the decline, and most people don't have enough savings to carry them through two decades or more of retirement. This is not lost on insurance companies, which would like you to think about the product as a pension of sorts -- albeit one that you have to buy with your own money. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]