Filed under: Budgets, Debt, Fraud, Credit cards
It is an unfortunate truth that those who can least afford to lose money are often targeted by businesses (and scams) intent on taking advantage of their weak position.
Filed under: College, Career, Fraud, Consumer Ally
So what if that dude in the cubicle next to yours decides to get a masters degree, then grabs the promotion you wanted — but the degree turns out to be fake? A number of high-profile cases over the years demonstrate that some people in middle and senior corporate, government and non-profit management are not above using a bogus credential to get ahead.
Filed under: Credit, Debt, Credit Reports, Credit cards
Rebuilding lousy credit is a hot topic with consumers these days, and one I’ve thought about a lot, having recently written a book about bad credit and having survived many, many years of financial turmoil. I currently have no credit cards, save one that my wife and I were able to get when my wife needed dental work last year. When I mentioned this to my bank manager once — during a discussion about my almost-every-other-month overdraft fees — he suggested I get a secured credit card.
Filed under: Banks, Banking-checking-account
Ugh. Did we just manage to get one annoying, expensive bank fee out of our hair only to turn around and find another one staring us in the face? Yes, we did, according to MSNBC’s Red Tape Chronicles.
Here’s the short version. The Federal Reserve is cracking down on banks that are slapping their customers with overdraft charges of up to $35 if they overdraw their account by even a few dollars. Beginning this summer (July for new account holders, a month later for existing customers), Americans will have to choose to be part of this racket. (Think about it; If you spend $10 you don’t happen to have on lunch with friends and get charged $35, the bank is essentially loaning you that $10 at a 350% interest rate.) (Continue the story…)
Filed under: Credit, Debt, Credit Reports, Credit cards
Getting the best interest rates on major purchases, whether that’s a house or a car, can be much harder with today’s stricter credit standards. Credit scores must be higher, and so does the amount you plan to put down on a house, even to get a mortgage.
Filed under: Insurance, Family Money, Health, Insurance-health
Annie and Doug Schulte each have health insurance through their jobs. She works for a tiny nonprofit, and he is a truck driver.
Filed under: Retire, Health, Insurance-health
Most seniors will not see their premiums for Medicare Part B increase in 2010. That’s because there is a “hold harmless” provision of Social Security that prevents Social Security payments from decreasing from one year to the next as a result of Medicare Part B increases. The intention of that provision was to protect seniors on a fixed-income from losing income if the premium for Part B increases.
Filed under: College, Family Money
A friend who recently graduated from college explained his problem to me: He doesn’t have a job and no longer qualifies for his parents’ insurance plans.
So now, in addition to the difficulty of making student loan payments without any money, he doesn’t have health insurance. Unfortunately, his situation is not rare: a report from the Commonwealth Fund found that 34% of college graduates spends some time without health insurance in the year after graduation — a roll of the dice that puts a third of recent grads one medical emergency away from financial ruin at worst and a a lack of access to needed health care at best.
Filed under: Banks, Banking-checking-account, Banking-savings-account
There’s a lot of good stuff going on as far as the government cracking down on the way banks and credit-card companies have been treating their customers lately. The CARD Act kicks into gear next month, and Federal Reserve rules that come into play this summer will stop the frustrating practice of being automatically enrolled in overdraft “protection” programs that zing you for $35 if you go into the red. But there’s a drawback to these reforms: Banks are still going to be looking for ways to make money.
Filed under: Debt, Real Estate, Mortgages, Refinancing
The landscape of refinancing has changed dramatically in recent months, but the reason for doing it remains largely the same. “It was about the dollars,” says Owen Metz, 26, of Plymouth, Minn., who dropped his monthly payments by $150 when he refinanced earlier this month. “Anytime I can save money now — it’s almost a no-brainer.”