Sometimes the state of our personal finances can make us a little hostile. When you see how much you have lost in your retirement account due to a plunge in the stock market, you may want to throw a chair across the room. When you realize you’ve overdrafted your checking account, you may want to [...]
October 16, 2009
Banks in the United States have certainly had a rough year, amid a slew of high-profile failures, scrutiny from regulators and those angry torch-bearing borrowers congregating outside CEO castles. But some experts predict that domestic lenders could take even more heat, based on what has been already happening to credit card issuers overseas. In the United [...]
October 16, 2009
A new poll by a New York fraud prevention company reminded me of a cell phone call I got from my credit card company once. No. It wasn’t a debt collection call. An automated voice said they were calling to alert me to some unusual activity on my Visa card. As it turns out the [...]
October 16, 2009
Holiday sales will be down 1 percent this year, according to the leading retail trade association, with lackluster spending by consumers unlikely to get a boost from Christmas presents put on credit cards. According to the National Retail Federation, frugal-minded consumers are likely to shift away from credit cards and instead put holiday buys on [...]
October 16, 2009
Today is Leif Erikson Day. Erikson was a Viking and, according to today’s historical consensus, the first European to venture to the continent of North America. The Nordic explorer came here nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus. A 1968 U.S. postage stamp honoring Leif Erikson and his expeditions. The day is marked by a presidential proclamation, [...]
October 16, 2009
The 226th edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance included my blog about reasons to answer credit card company calls in its weekly roundup of personal finance blogs. Each week different bloggers who focus on money, debt management and finance agree to review a week of blog postings and select those to include in a themed roundup. This week’s carnival host [...]
October 16, 2009
I heard a song playing on the radio in Austin, Texas, one recent night that brought back memories of the classic blues music that I listened to growing up. Austin singer/songwriter Larry Shannon Hargrove belted out a bluesy tune called “I Need a Bailout” in the style of R&B greats Johnnie Taylor, Bobby Womack and Al Green. (You 20-somethings: [...]
October 16, 2009
As a Web-savvy personal finance editor, I would never be fool enough to fall for the “free trial offers” of Acai berry supplements. But I guess I’m a chump for wrinkle-eliminating-spot-fading-luminous-glow-dead-cell-removing facial products. I mean, did you see the before-and-after photos? Wow. Yet another testament to the power of Photoshop. And that’s exactly how I got [...]
October 16, 2009
Today is Boss’s Day, an annual holiday celebrated in America. A bad boss can make your world a living hell, but a great boss can make your life much easier. Today is a time for employees to thank their superior for being a good and fair boss (though right now, I think it’s simply a [...]
October 16, 2009
In the November 2009 issue of Consumer Reports magazine, they had a rundown of “credit cards worth keeping.” This is an especially useful list now that terms are changing and many of us are considering moving on. Here are Consumer Reports’ picks: Balance-Transfer Cards Consumer Reports likes American Express Clear, PenFEd Visa Platinum and People’s United Bank [...]
October 16, 2009