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Reportedly, the new method of calculating FICO scores will assign a significant weight to credit utilization. If you use more than 30% of your limit, your score will take a hit.

So, when a new immigrant gets a credit card (presumably with a low limit), it might be best to keep it in a drawer and use his/her USC spouse's credit card (as an authorized user, of course).

I (an immigrant, but with a decent score by now ) am planning to ask my bank for an increase in credit limit, so that I don't ever have to get close to it.

Can anyone tell me what exactly is an assosciates degree?

From Wikipedia:

An associate degree is an academic degree awarded by community colleges, junior colleges, business colleges and some bachelors degree-granting colleges/universities upon completion of a course of study usually lasting two years.

[....]

In the United States and, more rarely, Canada, an associate degree is equivalent to the first two years of a four-year college or university degree. It is the lowest in the hierarchy of postsecondary academic degrees offered in these countries. It is also equivalent to the UK's foundation degree and France's diplôme d'études universitaires générales or DEUG.

Might be Hmong - I found in a doctor's office in Sacramento, along with Spanish, Russian and two obviously Asian versions.

Thanks everyone!

Big companies, with a formal hiring process, will usually send a "thank you, but..." letter. Most other companies... nope. It's like sending resumes to a black hole - until someone calls back. As someona said, looking for a job IS a job in itself.

The company where I work now called a few hours after I sent a resume.

Someone here will know, I am sure!

Thov qhia rau koj tus kws khomob paub yog tias koj xav tau tshuaj ntxiv.

I know what it means, it's just that it looks more like a Windows serial code than a human language to me (No offense meant to native speakers of this language!)

Everything is negotiable. It might be easier to get more vacation than a bigger salary, for example.

Anyone who needs a secured credit card should start with his/her local credit union. They may require a significant deposit (like 150% of credit limit), but are less likely to try to rip a customer off.

Any one where know of a link where I can read more about this change? Is it to "authorized user status" only or "joint account holder" as well?

Here: http://www.blackenterprise.com/cms/exclusi...en.aspx?id=4030

So, apparently only the FICO scoring system will not take an "authorized user" status into account. All three credit bureaus offer their own FICO alternatives. In other words, adding your SO as an authorised user to your credit card accounts might still be worthwhile.

By the way, getting a decent credit score is surprisingly easy. It took me just a year to get above 700.

Basically, I'm wondering how everyone else got by not being able to work, and living in a foreign country.

I remained employed in Europe. The wonders of Internet :-) The only downside was that taxes got complicated and we needed professional help.

But, as others said, if your fiance not working is going to be a financial problem, then you will have an even bigger problem getting a visa for him.

For me the biggest problem is knowing what friendship means here. Sure, I have acquaintances and some of them are friendly, but are they friends? How do I know if I can call someone at 3am if I have a problem? In my country I somehow knew...

Many people do not consider themselves "residents" before getting a GC, or at least EAD. I was one of them What really matters is if one can get insured.

Therefore, the applicant cannot be asked question about nationality at the time of the interview or on a job application."

They can ask what languages you speak, and this usually tells them where you are from...

My employer pays a full salary. Not that I care, I am not eligible for jury duty

(I was hesitant at first to give him the DL because I'm afraid that he would void it),

He did - in a way. You won't be able to use your foreign license in CA again.

Further below, it states: "This license is issued as a license to drive a motor vehicle; it does not establish eligibility for employment, voter registration, or public benefits." He made me sign the paper, then said "You may now drive home and alone without problems."

So is this it? No road test? It seems like I can drive now, am I not dreaming?

Slightly weird - my experience was very similar, except I was told that I "could make an appointment for a road test now". The DMV guy might have made a mistake. What you described would usually happen if you had a license from another state.

A lawsuit would - and should - be lost. The police cannot afford to look for every adult that does not come home. If the husband himself drove past the accident site and saw nothing, then hardly anyone can be accused of negligence.

Localizing a cell phone signal is another story. My opinion is that privacy laws are there for a reason, and phone companies should not check location of anyone when his/her spouse requests it. Actually, maybe I should sign a statement authorizing exactly that and give it to my wife? I am not planning to run away...

Anyway, I hope the woman survives.

Well its not exactly free upgrades, they are part of the price you pay for the house.

Sure. The point is, buyers are getting more for their money. Those incentives are nothing but hidden price drops.

Your right, the Rate for ARMs will probably improve a bit, but if they have to move, well they have a bigger mortgage than the house is worth.

What I was trying to say was that if a person does not default immediately after his APR resets, then he has a good chance of never losing his house to a foreclosure. The worst loans started in 2005/6 and "teaser" rates typically last two years. This leads me to believe that the wave of foreclosures will last for another year, maybe year and a half. After that, prices will stop falling... or will fall slower.

I used (and still use) xe.com to send my money from Europe to the US. It also works in the other direction The only fees I paid were currency conversion fees, and those were lower than a bank would offer. A transfer takes about a week, though.

...and those price drops do not take into account free upgrades, plasma TVs, seller-paid closing costs etc.

My personal guess is that we will see double-digit price drops within the next two years. All "creative" ARM mortgages will reset within this time and prices will stabilize somewhat. They will, however, appreciate below inflation for a long, long time.

Software engineer. They gave me about 40% more that I earned at a university in Ireland. And cost of living seems to be lower here

CEO Ara Hovnanian, "The high level of traffic we saw in our sales offices and models over the weekend and over the past several weeks convinces us that there are interested buyers in the market today."

There are, indeed. Just keep on lowering the prices, dear builders...

My apologies. I did not notice that you contradicted yourself later

It wasn't a contradiction...it was a usually-should-go-without-saying-but-I'll-make-a-formal-exception-for-the-excessively-literal

When it comes to finances - especially buying a house - not being literal can cost you dearly

Generally speaking, renters pay property tax...it's just called rent.

Renters pay property tax, included in their rent. "Owners" pay their mortgage AND property tax.

And if you were buying a home, any realtor in FL would estimate your taxes so that you don't go in 'blind'. You'd also get this estimation from your mtg co....so please don't make assumptions about all 'realtors tend to not tell you'. I'm talking in this thread as a person, not a professional realtor giving advice to anyone in any real estate transaction.

What I said is based on - admittedly limited - sample of local real estate agents trying to convince me that "the best time to buy is now".

If your going to post something of mine to pick apart, post the other bits that make your whole reply to me a superfluous one:

when I said renting didn't make sense, I truly believe that. But I also didn't clarify that in certain places, it's impossible to buy.

Obviously one cannot generalize and cover every location in the country. Obviously some areas are different.

My apologies. I did not notice that you contradicted yourself later

But they're only holding on right now on the speculation that x amt of loss each month will be a short term loss only. But generally speaking, investors are not in business to lose money...so ask yourself why it's financially condusive for a person to buy a house purely on the notion of renting it out...if owning is not a good option???

In general (and I am talking about 100-year averages here) owning makes a perfect sense, no question about it. The problem is, we are nowhere near the long-term trend now. Investors who bought recently in "hot" areas will either sell at a loss or rent at a loss.

Just found a nice link: http://efinancedirectory.com/articles/This...ome_Prices.html

Property taxes are much lower than interest payments in the first years of mortgage.

Depends on how much your taxes are and the terms of your mortgage.

Also depend on your down payment and the length of your mortgage. How much you save on that deduction depends also on your marginal tax rate.

Anyway, my point was that property taxes are a significant part of the total cost of owning a house.

Deduction

It hardly makes a difference, then. Property taxes are much lower than interest payments in the first years of mortgage. But still, I am glad I'll be paying a bit less

You get a break on those taxes, too.

I didn't know that. Can you elaborate? Is that a deduction or tax credit?