Should You Get Life Insurance for Your Child?

Posted on January 17, 2012 by admin

child life insuranceOne of the big questions that you have to ask yourself as a parent is whether or not you should get life insurance for your child. Programs like the Gerber Grow-Up Plan let you buy life insurance for your children for a small price. Then, when your child is older, he or she can keep the life insurance policy, ensuring that he or she is insured, or the policy can be cashed in to help pay for college.

Another consideration is that it is possible to purchase “regular” life insurance for your child. Some people choose to purchase whole life policies for their children. And, of course, many parents have riders attached to their own policies. These small insurance amounts are meant to help cover burial costs. Here are some things to consider as you determine whether or not to buy life insurance for your children: Continue reading →

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4 Risky Places To Swipe Your Debit Card

Posted on January 6, 2012 by admin

 

Debit Cards Are Different

Debit cards are different

Would you give a thief direct access to your checking account?

No? Unfortunately, you may be doing just that by regularly using your debit card. Debit cards may look identical to credit cards, but there’s one key difference. With credit cards, users who spot fraudulent charges on their bill can simply decline the charges and not pay the bill. On the other hand, debit cards draw money directly from your checking account, rather than from an intermediary such as a credit card company.

Because of that, even clear-cut cases of fraud where victims are protected from liability by consumer protection laws can cause significant hardship, says Frank Abagnale, a secure-document consultant in Washington, D.C.

He cites the example of the The TJX Companies Inc.’s T.J. Maxx data breach that exposed the payment information of thousands of customers in 2007. The incident resulted in $150 million in fraud losses, and much of it was pulled directly from customers’ bank accounts. While credit card users got their accounts straightened out and new cards in the mail within a few days, the case created major problems for debit card holders who waited an average of two to three months to get reimbursed, Abagnale says.

While debit card fraud is always a possibility, being careful where you use it can help keep your checking account balance out of the hands of criminals. Continue reading →

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10 Basic Tips for dealing with Debt Collectors

Posted on November 22, 2011 by admin
 
It’s something most consumers dread — a debt collector calling to ask about an unpaid credit card debt, past due student loan or medical debt. Consumer credit counselors, debt collectors and state regulators all agree that ignoring debt collectors’ letters and phone calls is a bad idea. Deal with it, they say, otherwise matters can only get worse. Experts offer the following 10 tips for dealing with debt collection:
 
1. Avoid debt collection altogether.
Try to negotiate with the original creditor and work out a reasonable payment arrangement before the account is sold to a third-party debt collector. Continue reading →
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Bank of America to Add New Bank Fees

Posted on October 22, 2011 by admin

by Jim Wang on September 29, 2011

Many news outlets have been reporting that Bank of America will be instituting new fees to those with low account balances and it comes as no surprise. They are just the latest to announce tests in which account holders in certain states would be seeing these new fees. Wells Fargo has done this, Chase has done this, and many more will follow. While I support legislation to clean up aspects of our finances, like the Fair Credit Reporting Act, some laws have unintended consequences. This aspect of the Dodd-Frank bill will simply shift overdraft fee and transaction fee revenue into account maintenance fees.

Quote of the Washington Post story:

“We’re in a new economic reality. We’ve seen our customers’ behaviors change, their financial needs change,” said Susan Faulkner, Bank of America’s deposits and card product executive.

We should read that as – “We’re in a new economic reality. We aren’t banking billions in fee revenue anymore and so we need to make a change.” While I appreciate the new reality, and banks deserve to make money just like any other business, I do find the corporate-speak to be entertaining. Continue reading →

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Five Tips to Save Money on Your Laundry

Posted on October 22, 2011 by admin

My husband and I don’t usually embrace ultra-frugality for the sake of saving a buck or two. But we will change our habits if the changes are easy or we can save a significant amount of money over time. When we realized we were doing more than 5 loads of laundry a week for two people, we decided to try out a few things (homemade laundry detergent did not make the cut). Some suggestions worked very well but others were complete flops. Here are a few tips we have come up with to save some money and time on laundry.

Laundry Tip #1 – Use Cold Water

I didn’t think that using cold water instead of hot water would change anything at all, but I was surprised. We have an all-electric house, which means our water heater is electric too. When we switched from doing all of our laundry with hot water to doing 90% of it with cold water instead, we saw our bills drop $5 – $10 a month. It apparently does take more energy than I would have expected to heat all of that water up. And a big bonus is that my shirts and towels don’t seem to be fading as quickly either! Continue reading →

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How To Get A FREE FICO Credit Score

Posted on September 19, 2011 by admin

by Jim Wang

Your FICO credit score is increasingly becoming one of the most important numbers in your life. I’ve written about what’s in your FICO credit score as well as how to get FICO credit score estimates, but never how to get the actual three-digit FICO score calculated by one of the bureaus.

While the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACTA) and Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) did wonders to shed light on the credit reporting industry and the data they are collecting on all of us, the light wasn’t bright enough. There is no way for you to get a free FICO credit score unless you sign up for a trial with one of the bureaus or with Fair Isaac Corporation directly.

Free FICO Credit Scores

There’s no true way to get a free FICO credit score, the bureaus aren’t in the business of giving that information away, but they will give you your score if you sign up for one of their credit related services. Fortunately, they offer trials so you can sign up for a program, see your score, then cancel the trial. If you just want your credit report, see the instructions below.

Checking your score will not lower your score! When you check your own score, it is considered a “soft inquiry” and your score will not be affected. Your score is only affected when a lender makes a “hard inquiry,” which they use to make lending decisions. If you request your report or your score, it will not hurt it. Continue reading →

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Foreclosures for Rent

Posted on August 5, 2011 by admin
 
By Judy Martel · Bankrate.com
Monday, August 1, 2011
Posted: 3 pm ET
 

The sluggish housing recovery is prompting President Barack Obama to consider ways to take foreclosed properties off the market and rent them until prices stabilize. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, home prices nationally were 7.4 percent lower in May than they were a year earlier, but when distressed and foreclosed properties are taken out of the equation, the percentage drops to just over 0.4 percent. Foreclosed and distressed properties account for nearly a third of homes sold each month. When homes are unloaded at “fire sale” prices, property values drop by as much as 20 percent, worsening the crisis by potentially pushing more homeowners into foreclosure.

The logic behind the idea to rent the foreclosed homes is that taking them off the market will allow falling home prices to stabilize somewhat, while the income from rent will cover expenses on the home until the housing market recovers. Rents have increased nationwide as home prices have dropped and the pool of renters looking for homes rather than apartments has increased. Continue reading →

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Chase has dropped more than 1,000 credit card debt-collection lawsuits in several states!

Posted on July 30, 2011 by admin

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, JPMorgan Chase & Co. has dropped more than 1,000 credit card debt-collection lawsuits in several states, including Florida, California, Illinois, New York, and New Jersey. As of March 31, 2011, the WSJ estimates, JPMorgan was owed $45.9 billion in outstanding credit card debt in those states alone.

The bank did not give any reason for withdrawing the lawsuits, and the bank may plan on refiling them in the future. JPMorgan obtained dismissals without prejudice from the state courts in which they were filed, meaning they can re-file the suits in the future should they wish to. Continue reading →

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Got Hang Ups? It’s A Girl Thing!

Posted on July 22, 2011 by admin

If you’ve got hang ups, odds are you’re female.

That’s what a credit card debt collector explained recently to The New Yorker Magazine.

Seems like an inside trick of the collection trade is to hang up when a woman answers a collection call.

Discrimination? Sure. But it’s calculated, strategic and highly effective. How so ?

Here’s what debt collectors know that you don’t: with caller ID, a woman will call back.

And when she does, the entire dynamic changes. The collector is no longer intruding on her privacy. Now, she’s the one hunting for answers. She will listen longer and is much less likely to hang up in the collector’s face. That would be soooo rude, and….you know…. would lower her to his level.

Where’s the dignity in that ?

So. Is there a moral to this story?

Of course, and here it is : Recognize your hang ups for what they are, and let them go.

If the call is important, they’ll get with you eventually.

 

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Sued over a Credit Card?

Posted on July 12, 2011 by admin

CREDIT CARD STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS :

 TRUE OR FALSE?

July 11th, 2011

Ready to test your knowledge of the Statute of Limitations ?

Read on, anyway.

1. True or False? The Statute of Limitations limits the period of time a creditor can collect an unpaid credit card debt.

False.

It limits the time a creditor can file suit to collect an unpaid credit card debt. Collectors can request voluntary payment until the day you die….or pay off the debt. Request, that is. Suggest. Point out the psychic benefits of paying your debts. Ask, if you will. Beg, even. But under no circumstances can they threaten legal action, bank levies, wage garnishment or jail. Even so, “post-statute” collection calls can get pretty rough, since the collectors have no legal recourse if you decline their offer to accept payment.

2. True or False? For a credit card collection lawsuit in California, the statute of limitations is always four years.

False. The boilerplate contracts which the banks enclose with your new credit card, have a “Choice of Law” provision. This provision identifies the state whose law governs the contractual relationship between the credit card issuer and the credit card holder. A number of these Choice of Law provisions select, as the controlling law, the laws of such states as Delaware [Chase, Bank of America]; Virgina [Capital One]; and, New Hampshire [Providian]. In each of these states, the applicable limitations period is three years. Continue reading →

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