Hubert Skip Humphrey III, the new chief of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureaus office for senior citizens, testified to a nearly empty Senate committee room this month about this plans to protect seniors, including cracking down on deceptive financial planners and helping older women, many of whom outlive both their husbands and their savings.

Save for two Democratic Senators, the hearing was mostly empty because the Senate panels Republicans, who have opposed the bureau and are blocking the appointment of Richard Cordray to lead the CFPB, did not attend.

Older Americans have been hit hard by the economic crisis, Humphrey said. Many of those in the 62-plus population are not financially prepared for retirement, and financial exploitation of older Americans is growing.

Without a director in place, the bureau has no power to enact new rules that would protect seniors.

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Okay, okay, its a feast its supposed to be over the top, too much to eat.  Well, you can still celebrate the season without busting your budget. My first suggestion which will save you the most may or may not be for you.

Heres an idea This Thanksgiving, give thanks by giving.

Yes. Thats right. By giving. Instead of sitting down to a huge meal with all the cost, time, and cleanup- how about starting a new tradition of giving. By donating your time on Thanksgiving Day to help those less fortunate? There are literally thousands of organizations nationwide that open their doors and serve Thanksgiving meals to the homeless and those in need. Its a great lesson in sharing for the kids, and you save money while doing a great thing. You could start by contacting your local Churches, Salvation Army, or homeless shelter and ask if they have a Thanksgiving dinner planned.

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Dear FSU Member,

Last week, the Federal Government introduced a bill into the Australian Parliament to increase employer superannuation contributions from 9 percent to 12 percent by 2019.

The vote on the bill is likely to occur in the week of 21 November. We need your help to make sure our politicians support better superannuation for all employees in our industry.

The National Executive of our union has endorsed a policy that employer superannuation contributions should increase to 15% to ensure that our members, who work for some of the wealthiest employers in the nation, can retire with dignity. The Government’s bill is an important step in moving us towards our objective.

As you know, many employers in our industry advise customers that 12% to 15% superannuation contributions are necessary to ensure a comfortable retirement. Yet many of our most profitable employers still only pay the Government legislated 9% superannuation contribution which financial experts agree is not enough.

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“…the Risks from Nonbank Intermediation in China,” by Nigel Chalk in IMFDirect.

Many China-watchers looked on in awe in 2009 as the government’s response to the global financial crisis unfolded, causing bank lending as a share of the economy to expand by close to 20 percentage points in less than a year. …

[A]t the same time…Various types of nonbank financial intermediaries—some new, some old—were gearing up to provide a conduit through which China’s high savings would be tapped to finance the corporate sector. The available data on this is terrible—the central bank’s numbers on social financing are the only credible and comprehensive public source, but even that gives only a partial picture.

Talking to people in China, and looking at what numbers are available, one cannot help but have an uneasy feeling that more credit is now finding its way into the economy outside of the banking system than is actually flowing through the banks.

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