“Are you afraid?” asked Suze Orman. “Are you afraid when it comes to your money? Well, you should be.” The lively personal finance expert and host of CNBC’s The Suze Orman Show appeared at Chicago Ideas Week (CIW) last night, …
credit cards
Just Rewards: Americans Trade In Credit Card Points for Cash
Rewards points and miles are a powerful tool in credit card companies’ marketing arsenal. Ads show people vacationing in exotic locales, kicking back in first-class airline seats or enjoying a pricey gadget. But in today’s …
Struggling for Investment Answers? It Helps To Reframe The Question
Tom ran a public opinion survey a while back where some of the respondents were asked if they believed they could save 20% of their income. Only half said yes. But when the other respondents were asked if they thought they could …
Why Reduced Credit Card Delinquency Is Bad News
New data from the American Bankers Association shows that the rates of late payments for most categories of consumer loans are creeping up. In the aggregate, nine of 11 different loan categories showed increases in nonpayment …
Study: Your Card Info Is At Risk
Buried in back offices and data centers across the country, far from consumers’ eyes, is a network of transmission lines and storage facilities responsible for getting your card information from point A to point B every time you make a purchase. A few years ago, companies in the industry got together and implemented security rules for …
Credit Union Paying Customers to Use Its Debit Card
Just when you thought every bank in the country was tacking on as many fees as possible comes a Texas credit union that pays 15 cents every time its members make a debit card purchase.
The Right Way to Cancel a Credit Card
When I was younger, I carried more than $20,000 in credit card debt, and it took a long time to recover. While credit cards aren’t evil, they can be very dangerous.
5 Ways You’re Getting Nickel-and-Dimed While Traveling
Don’t look now, but travel could be getting even more expensive. The New York Times is reporting that the Obama administration has proposed increasing the air travel security fee. Currently, airline passengers pay a $2.50 fee per …
With Interest Rates So Low, Why The Heck Are Credit Card APRs So High?
It doesn’t seem to make sense: The Federal Reserve just announced a plan intended to lower long-term interest rates; it’s kept short-term interest rates at historic lows, and says it will continue to do so through mid-2013. So …
Will Post Office Cuts Cost You Credit Card Late Fees?
The cash-strapped United States Postal Service has proposed a number of cost-cutting moves in the face of a $9 billion deficit. Two big ideas suggested by Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe are eliminating Saturday mail delivery and closing 252 mail processing facilities, which would lead to first-class mail taking longer to reach its …
$54 Billion Closer to Our Next Financial Crisis
After a couple years of austerity, we’re again racking up credit card debt at an alarming clip.
How Should You Pay for Post-Hurricane Home Repairs?
Homeowners who have to repair damage to their houses or were displaced in the wake of Hurricane Irene may face the financially difficult prospect of restoring their homes to pre-storm conditions on their own dime.