More Money Wednesday roundup: Great books & a rotten 529 investment
Personal finance from around the Web:
- Scrambling to find that perfect last-minute economic-meltdown-themed gift? Just buy one of the best financial-crisis books of the year. [USA Today]
- If billionaires don't feel guilty about walking away from their debt, why should homeowners feel bad about defaulting on their mortgages? [Slate]
- Illinois 529 college savings plan investors burned by Oppenheimer's investments will be suffering bigger losses than they previously expected. [Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis]
- The government's mortgage-modification efforts have failed terribly. Some suggested solutions: Options for the unemployed, mortgage writedowns, and rentals for former homeowners in their old foreclosed homes. [SFGate via Calculated Risk]
- A Treasury inspector general warns of the possibility of rampant fraud among resident and non-resident aliens with taxable income in the US. A recent study found that 70% of successful applications for Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers contained significant errors and/or probably shouldn't have been issued. [TaxProf Blog]
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