This post comes from Gerri Detweiler at Credit.com.

Michelle wants to buy a home but can’t get a loan. The problem? An emergency room bill from six years ago that is listed on her credit reports as severely past due. John is fighting a $406 bill he received after being seen in the ER for what the doctor diagnosed as a case of the flu. And Jerry is struggling to pay over $1,300 in ER co-pays on his limited Social Security income. These are just a few of the stories readers have shared with us describing their debt problems following a medical emergency.

While someone with a serious or chronic medical problem might expect to wind up in the emergency room or hospital periodically, no one plans to get the flu, break a bone or get in a car accident.

More than 54 million people reported having trouble paying medical bills at the start of 2012, according toa survey from the Centers for Disease Control. And medical bills are often cited as a major contributor to bankruptcy.

How can you prepare so that a medical emergency doesn't wipe you out financially? Here are six strategies:

1. Research local hospitals

When our reader Quentin's daughter  injured her ankle, he and his wife took her to the emergency room. They suspected a broken ankle. After X-rays were taken, they were told their daughter had no broken bones, and she was sent home with an ankle brace. Quentin got a bill for $1,500 from the hospital  and an additional $950 from the doctor before discovering the hospital was not a "preferred hospital" nor was the doctor a preferred provider. After an appeal, the insurer agreed to pay the hospital bill, but just $250 of the doctor bill.

 

Do you make $18.79 an hour? If not, good luck finding an affordable apartment.

One common guideline is that a rental shouldn't cost more than 30% of your income. By that standard, you'd have to earn a minimum of $18.79 per hour to afford a decent place to live, according to the 2013 "Out of Reach" study from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

Trouble is, the average renter earns $14.32 per hour.

Study authors say these numbers highlight the challenges faced by lower-income renters: "Increasing rents, stagnating wages, and a shortage of affordable housing."

How much are they spending? Too much. 

 

This post is by Geoff Williams of partner site U.S. News & World Report.

Everyone becomes an expert not just from their training or education but because of their influences in life. We are who we are because of everything we experience, but arguably, nobody influences us more than our parents. In honor of Father's Day, we're offering up money tips from the fathers of personal finance professionals throughout the country.

"Make money every chance you can."
"As a factory worker, overtime work was the only opportunity to earn extra income for the family, so my dad would work 12- to 16-hour days, seven days a week, when given the chance. My dad would always say when you work and can pay your own bills that you are free from others telling you how to live."

-- Gerard Olson is a finance professor at Villanova School of Business in Villanova, Penn. His father, Joseph, was a combat wounded World War II veteran. Olson adds of his father: "I saw my dad in a lot of pain through the years resulting from his leg amputation and other war-related ailments, but he took great pride that he never missed a day of work, except to go fishing, of course." Joseph Olson passed away in 2009. 

This post comes from Eric Reed at partner site MainStreet.

Not a lot of us understand where our credit scores comes from. We pretty much get that it has to do with paying our bills on time. We know that it's hard to repair once damaged and we know that, by and large, it's pretty important. Beyond that the pieces that move in the background are, usually, pretty much a mystery.

 

Well, things may be about to get even more complicated, as financial agencies have begun exploring social media to verify identities and evaluate your credit score.

 

As Bloomberg News reported last week, payment and credit reporting agencies have begun testing ways to integrate social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and personal blogs, into the financial process. The goal is to find new sources of information to help determine an individual's creditworthiness, as well as to confirm people's identities online.

 

Six months after the federal government said it had reached an impasse with the manufacturer of the Nap Nanny infant recliner -- which had been blamed for five infant deaths -- the product was finally recalled, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said today.

In an unusual step, the CPSC in December sued Baby Matters LLC of Berwyn, Pa., over its failure to acknowledge the product was dangerous and for refusing to announce a recall. Since 2009, Nap Nanny and Nap Nanny Chill have been connected to five deaths and 92 other incidents, the CPSC said. 

Word that News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch is planning to divorce his third wife, Wendi Deng, got us thinking about the high cost of splitting up.

Even with a prenuptial agreement, Murdoch, 82, could be in for a costly and painful legal battle to protect his global empire, worth an estimated $9.4 billion.

Divorce rarely makes economic sense at any income level, but as Woody Allen once said, "The heart wants what it wants."

Here, in reverse order of course, is our list of the top 10 most expensive divorces, according to Reuters, CNBC and Forbes:

 

This post comes from Angela Colley at partner site Money Talks News. 

Unless you have a lot of free time, or don't care about getting the best deal, real estate agents are a necessary part of buying or selling a house. They know the industry in and out and make the task a lot easier for you.

But, as with any special service or skill you pay for, what you don't know can cost you.