European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 27, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                May 2007 stars and stripes Mideast edition Page 21 your Money courses have major Job implications dear Liz i am graduating from College this annual tuition at the school is about a not including room and my undergraduate degree is in cultural i want to know whether this degree will be Worth or have i just wasted my Money answer its a Little late now you should have asked this question before you settled on a although its important to Pur sue subjects that interest you in col you also need to keep an Eye on the career path you plan to Pur sue and the potential salary you might this is particularly important if you borrow Money for school because its easy to go deep into debt for a degree that ultimately  pay your professors should have a Good idea of where previous cultural studies majors Are employed and the general Job Market for the you should have sought advice from professors and graduates Long but better late than dear Liz i withhold a substantial amount of Money from my biweekly paycheck in both pretax and after tax retirement a the funds Are shown on my pay stub and Are withheld before my net pay is calculated and my concern is that the Money withheld does not show up Money talk Liz Pulliam Weston in my Vanguard retirement accounts for at least sometimes three my question where was that Money in the meantime with 26 pay periods a year and at least a two week Gap Between each withholding and that adds up to thousands of dollars of my Money sitting Factor in the thousands of contributors in a Large company such As mine and there must be consid Erable amounts of employee Money used by my employer or the Mutual fund company for some does this seem right is it even Legal answer the labor department requires employers to Deposit employee contributions into the appropriate accounts As soon As reason ably the very latest the Money is supposed to be deposited is 15 business Days after the month in which the Money was but typically labor regulators expect the Money to be transferred a Toto three week Gap Between the deduction and the Deposit Doest seem unreal but if youre raise the Issue with your until the Money is it usually sits in the employers account and earns interest that typically is used to offset the costs of offering the retirement so even if you did succeed in speeding up the you and your colleagues May end up shouldering More of the retirement plans which certainly will detract from any investment gain you dear Liz How Long can inquiries remain on ones credit reports i just noticed an in Quiry from about nine years my credit scores Are marginal and in trying to get a i know that such inquiries Are negatively affecting my so what should i do answer inquiries might not be the prob Lem that you hard inquiries which Are recorded on your credit reports when you apply for credit usually deduct no More than five Points from your score if they Are and their effect quickly soft which Are recorded when an existing creditor reviews your cred it or a potential Lender checks your reports before making a pre approved have no effect on your credit bureaus usually delete inquiries after two if the old inquiry really bothers you can request that it be taken off your what really will help boost your scores is paying Down any credit card debt and using 30 percent or less of your credit limits at any Given Liz Pulliam Weston is the author of the books your credit score and Deal with your both published by Prentice questions for possible inclusion in her column May be sent to 3940 Laurel Canyon studio Ca or via the Contact Liz form at distributed by no More red fares Chance for refunds from Page 20 most airlines and travel vendors have More Liberal 24hour or someday Price offering to rebook you at a lower Price and refund the Dif Ference if the Price drops in the first 24 without change Espedia and tra velocity go a step further offer ing their own 24hour if prices drop More than within 24 they will reissue tickets at the lower refund the difference and give you their own voucher toward future of Many tickets never go Down in so Laptas Pri Mary use is As a bit of Price Protection for if the Price goes theres something to cover said to i have used which stands for your amazing personal travel Assis for the past couple of weeks and found it helpful at tracking for my own i tagged a Bunch of flights from various web a Den Vert Boston round trip in june that United offered me at dropped to one a 38 percent Tum a Dallas Washington round trip for june that i had followed for some time for a family trip typically priced around but Early one Yalta fired notice that the american flights i wanted fell to you must act prices can Bounce Back up before you Are done with fridays Market summary indexes 52 High Low Nam last Dow Jones industrials Dow Jones transportation Dow Jones utilities nose composite amex Index Nash a 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Charta Raythelon Rockwell Seq a Texas 8 20 advisor t Seq let Fidelity advisor t Groppo Putnam funds a Globe qty p text Ron United advisor t Ovresat lord Abbett a Devota funds a gig a Exchange rates military rates British Pound May euro costs May Dollar buys May japanese yen May South korean won May commercial rates Bahrain British Canada China Denmark Egypt Hong Kong Hungary Israel Japan yen Kuwait Norway Philippines Poland saudi Arabia Singapore South Korea won Switzerland Thailand Turkey new military Exchange rates Are those available to customers at military Bank ing facilities in the country of issuance for South the Netherlands and the United for no local currency Exchange rates purchasing British pounds in Germa Check with your local military Bank ing commercial rates Are inter Bank rates provided for reference when buying All figures Are foreign currencies to one except for the British which is represented in and the which is precious metals new York merc close Silver interest rates prime discount rate Federal funds Market rate 3month 30year sources the associated Bank of America ends and sensibility Money tip of the Day Money part of weather plan by Marshall Loeb Market watch new York tornadoes and other weather disasters wreak havoc on every part of Peoples including their i is your family financially prepared in Case disaster strikes Rande vice presi Dent of financial planning at the Schwab Center for investment says there Are several things you can do to protect your self ahead of in addition to the basics creating a disaster communication stocking up on food and secur ing property Spiegelman suggests going Over the following checklist make sure youre go Over your homeowners or renters insurance to determine whether you Are protected if a natural disaster you May need additional flood or earthquake so talk to your agent for and ask about discounts you might be Able to secure a lower Premium if you take preventive measures to protect your like an Choring your foundation or Clear ing Brush and Trees away from the make a list of your House hold your video camera int just for Home mov ies use it to inventory your if you dont have take pictures and record a description and value for every thing you store your inventory in a Safe place that not your Spiegelman suggests updating each create a document evacuation while original copies of insurance policies and the like Are Best kept in a Safe Epos it keep along with other important in a Waterproof evacuation Box you can grab and you can also consider scanning your documents and storing them on have Cash on dont rely on arms for Money if theres an keep enough Cash to cover a few Days Worth of b t ripes your Hometown newspaper online at