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Marlys Harris

Author Biography

Marlys Harris has been covering personal finance at least since the time of the Pharaohs, first in 12 years at Money and then as finance editor at Consumer Reports. She has written and edited stories on just about everything having to do with money, from workers comp to marrying for money.

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• Your 50s: Saving Money, Reviving Your Business

  Real Life: The CadeliniasSam Cadelinia figured he had already weathered the worst that a bad economy could hand him. As head of a thriving San Francisco real estate agency in 1994, he had watched as housing prices dropped 25 percent, and his income dried up along with sales. "I had to sell...

  Articles | Oct 28, 2009

• Why Credit Card Regulation Is Broken

  Until recently, regulators routinely looked the other way as credit card issuers ensnared unwitting consumers with huge finance charges and penalties. So how did credit card regulation become so broken? Here's a brief history of the slippery practices of the industry. How Cards Got...

  Articles | Apr 15, 2009

• How Much House Do You Really Need?

  [caption id="attachment_428" align="alignright" width="174" caption="You probably need a house bigger than this—but not by much."][/caption] Emerging from this recession is a new rule: Buy only as much house as you need. Unfortunately for their finances, Americans have been doing...

  Blog posts | Nov 18, 2009

• Why I Don't Hate the Airlines

  [caption id="attachment_328" align="alignnone" width="302" caption="You sometimes have to fly to Dallas or Atlanta to get to Minneapolis from New York. "][/caption] I just returned from visiting mom in Minneapolis, and I have to say that the trip gave me a renewed understanding of what the...

  Blog posts | Sep 23, 2009

• S.C.R.E.W.U. or the Safe Credit Revision Everyone Wins Undertaking

  According to a new cartoon by Mark Fiore, an award-winning political animator who hangs out somewhere in the Bay Area, this is the program that credit card issuers have developed in response to the CARD (Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009) which is to go into...

  Blog posts | Nov 9, 2009

• The Online University Hustle

  Where have all the mortage brokers gone, long time passing? If the husband's recent experience offers any evidence, they've gone to online universities every one and become admissions advisers. Why do I say this? Because enrolling in a college training course these days is a lot like getting...

  Blog posts | Jul 2, 2009

• Old Credit Card Tricks Are New Again

  Since Congress enacted the consumer-friendly credit card law back in May, you'd think that the cardcos would have at least started to roll back all those bad practices that it bans. You'd think. After all, if you knew you were starting Weight Watchers on Monday, wouldn't you stock up on...

  Blog posts | Nov 2, 2009

• Reverse Mortgage Brokers Are No Angels

  A few days ago, I put up a spoofy post called "Five Jobs for Lousy Times and No Talent Necessary." One of my top picks was reverse mortgage broker. My reasoning: As the population ages and taps out any retirement savings left after the financial crisis, reverse mortgages, which are available...

  Blog posts | Oct 29, 2009

• Beef Up Retirement Savings

  With their last child out of college, this was the year the Cadelinias were going to start putting serious money away for retirement. But the economic crisis whacked Sam's salary by 80 percent. Here's a savings and investment plan to get them back on track. When San Francisco real estate...

  Articles | Oct 28, 2009

• Rebuilding a Small Business

  Entrepreneurs around the country were hit hard by the one-two punch of the economic and real estate crashes, but Sam Cadelinia really took on the chin. As the owner of a California real estate agency, he was in one of the worst industries in the hardest-hit regions. Here's how he can rebuild his...

  Articles | Oct 28, 2009