When to Use Credit Counseling Agencies
US households debt service ratio is now down to 11.5 percent from a high of 14.0 percent, in the third quarter of 2007. People are making great strides to reduce or eliminate debt altogether. This is good news, however many people are still concerned about their debt. The conventional ways of debt reduction entail some… Read More »
Important Credit Score Information
This is a follow-up to an earlier article about an excellent series from The Columbus Dispatch about significant errors of credit agencies combining the credit history of other people, usually family members or others with similar names, that have bad credit. Some of the stories really blew my mind- click to read the full articles: Part… Read More »
Credit Score News
The Columbus Dispatch reported significant errors of credit agencies combining the credit history of other people, usually family members or others with similar names, that have bad credit. Bad credit and other bad information on the reports prevents people from obtaining all sorts of loans, such as for cars or from their home equity. Bad credit… Read More »
How to Break the Pay-Day Loan Trap
A lot of people are stuck in a cycle of using Pay-Day and Checking Cashing stores, and they don’t know how to get out of them. First let’s understand how they work to both help people then trap them in an ever ending cycle of debt and pain. Loan is given, equal to one or… Read More »
Bank of America New Plan for Foreclosing Homes
The Wall Street Journal reported that BofA is initially offering in New York, Arizona and Nevada homeowners who are having difficulty making mortgage payments, to lease their home back to them, at market rates, in exchange for transferring the deed to the bank using a ‘deed-in-lieu of foreclosure.’ This could be a win for the… Read More »
What to do with your Tax Refund
When we find out we are going to receive what might be thousands of dollars in tax refunds from the Federal or State Governments, we have two competing impulses: wants versus needs. Those that are struggling may want to give this issue serious consideration, because any windfall like tax refunds or bonuses can really help us… Read More »
The Challenge of Low Interest Rates
Interest rates are extremely low, providing challenges for borrowers and investors alike. For potential buyers there may be the temptation to purchase things using debt, instead of saving money for things that are wanted. Renters of apartments are attracted to buy homes since interest rates are at historical lows in the ball park of 3%…. Read More »
News about lenders: Post Bankruptcy Collections, Auto Loans, and Pay-Day Lenders
If you have had some difficulty with making debt payments recently, this article may be for you. It is has been reported in several places including the Wall Street Journal, that even though people declared bankruptcy, some lenders still tried to collect on the old debt. This is an illegal practice, where the lenders or… Read More »
The truth about teens in debt
This is a guest post from Stewart Smith In the present financial situation, the money that you earn from your job is just not sufficient to cover everything you want. Now, the most obvious solution would be to get a credit card in order to fulfill all your desires. Well, this is the way how… Read More »
Savings, CDs, Money Markets and Linked CDs
Many people ask me about savings accounts, money markets and CDs, and the latest version of CDs, market linked or index CDs: Q. Most financial experts say that we should accumulate 3 – 6 months of income or expenses in a safe savings account, for emergencies, such as job loss, uninsured damage to property or… Read More »
