Here’s a troubling report: More people are taking hardship withdrawals from their 401(k) plans, or borrowing against their retirement accounts.

According to Fidelity Investments, which administers 401(k) plans with 11 million participants, 62,000 workers initiated a hardship withdrawal in the second quarter.
That’s up from 45,000 in during the same three months (April through June) in 2009.
About [...]

Congratulations to Karthik S. of Dallas, Texas, who won the $100 gift card from Amazon.com. And thanks to everyone who took the time to complete our reader survey. We promise to put everything we’ve learned to good use.

We’d like to know more about you and why you’ve come to Bankaholic.com.
It only takes a couple of minutes to take our survey and register to win a $100 gift card from Amazon.com.
But the survey ends at 9 a.m. EDT tomorrow (that’s Tuesday, June 29). So do it now, before it’s too late.
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There’s a new Web site for people like me, who are terrified we’ll pay too much for a used car.
Carsala.com will do the haggling for you.
Just tell the site what make and model you want to buy, and how far you’ll go to get it.
Carsala.com will then find and negotiate a purchase price on up [...]

Last winter we questioned whether some of the “Real Housewives” on Bravo’s reality shows were as rich as they seem – or just living way beyond their means?
Little did we know that one of the devotees of conspicuous consumption we mentioned had already filed for bankruptcy.
Just a few days ago the gossip sites reported that [...]

Over the years, thousands of you have signed up to receive our “Deal Alerts.”
Unfortunately our antiquated email system limited how many alerts we could send, when we could send them, and what they could include.
In short, the whole thing sucked.
Today, we’re launching a new system that will finally allow us to make good on our [...]

We’d like to know more about you and why you’ve come to Bankaholic.com.
It only takes a couple of minutes to take our survey and register to win a $100 gift card from Amazon.com.
CLICK HERE TO GET STARTED.

You need to consider whether the career you’re studying for pays enough to warrant all of the money you’re borrowing for a college education.
Check out this PayScale College Salary Report on how much the typical grad can expect to make.
If, for example, you take out $100,000 in loans at 6.8% interest and plan to pay [...]

The only thing we like better than a great CD rate is free food.
That’s why we’ll be celebrating National Doughnut Day today, June 4.
Some of the biggest makers of Homer Simpson’s favorite treat will be giving them away to mark the occasion:
Krispy Kreme: Free doughnut with no other purchase required.
Dunkin’ Donuts: Free [...]