Word: cushions
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...employer's budget for next year shrinking, Randy Holyfield, an executive for a nonprofit group in Highlands Ranch, Colo., was desperately seeking a safety net. He found one in his home. Holyfield refinanced his mortgage at the lowest rates in 30 years, cashing out a $40,000 cushion while holding his monthly payment steady. "The newspapers say unemployment is still low," offers Holyfield, 43. "Well, I have friends out of work, and others who had to leave the state for a job. It's worse than the numbers indicate...
...their most valuable asset, Americans this year refinanced more than $1.1 trillion of mortgages--roughly a fifth of all mortgage debt. In 65% of cases, homeowners borrowed more than they owed and used the difference to pay down credit-card debt, finance a home improvement or build a cushion for tough times. It's a low-risk way to get cash. "Very rarely have home values declined nationally, though pockets can take a hit," notes Dan Gilbert, ceo of Quickenloans.com...
What can you do to prepare? Most financial planners advise that you set aside, in a savings or money-market account, an emergency cushion of three months' to six months' salary. (Last month the typical laid-off worker took 14.5 weeks to find a new job.) Unfortunately many of us have far too little cash in our emergency fund. A Fidelity Investments survey released this month shows that 2 out of 5 families--some 71 million Americans in all--haven't scraped together even a three-month cushion. In a pinch, those surveyed said, they would borrow from friends...
Winter’s play helped Harvard build a 12-point halftime cushion. But in the second half, as UNH went even smaller, Harvard struggled more and more to handle the Wildcats’ outside shooting. It’s not asking too much to defend one or two outside threats at a given time; guarding against five perimeter players all at once is an entirely different matter. Last night, five different UNH players fired three or more trey attempts. Harvard struggled just to get a hand in their face and UNH ended up shooting 7-of-15 from behind...
...totally converted domestic. I can see how the drudgery of a daily obligation to put food on the table for a family would chip away at even the most Martha-esque culinary good cheer. But my experience in meal preparation so far, limited to my own whim and the cushion of a meal plan in times of laziness, is the most unpredictably good thing in my life right now. I don’t really know what that means, but every time I use the word parboil in a conversation (more frequently than one might guess) I am pleasantly surprised...