If you applied for a loan and got denied or received a higher interest rate than other borrowers with better credit scores, starting July 21st, the lender has to send you a free copy of your credit score. [More]
personal finance
11 Legal Ways To Pay No Taxes. No Bunker Required.
By 4.11.11
It’s tax time, so you’re probably wondering, man, do I really have to give the government so much of my money? If you’re rich, the answer is no! Step 1: Be a millionaire. Step 2: Hire a flashy accountant. Step 3: Have them use one of these 11 completely legal ways the wealthy use to avoid paying taxes. One of them, which Bloomberg Businessweek calls “The Friendly Partner,” allows for a property to be sold without any capital-gains tax at all. [More]
Personal Finance Roundup
By 4.11.11
When to Say No to a Job [US News] “Here are a few tell-tale warning signs about a potential job.”
Bargains on the First 4 Semesters [NY Times] “Six of the most important things you need to think about if you’re trying to save money [by attending community college the first two years of school].”
Retirement planning for you and your spouse [CNN Money] “Forging a joint plan now will give you a better shot at a retirement that will make you both happy.”
Frugal to a Fault? 6 Dumb Money ‘Saving’ Mistakes [Money Watch] “Here are some more common financial traps when we aim to be too frugal.”
5 ways restaurants get you to spend [MSN Money] “These tactics can bust your dining-out budget while lining the pockets of food service companies.”
BofA Charges Fee After 3 Withdrawals To Discourage You From Making More Than 6
By 4.8.11
Here’s a funny fee that I just found out about, even though it’s been in place for at least a year. So, Federal regulation, Regulation D, prohibits more than six withdrawals per month from a savings account (ATM withdrawals don’t count towards the 6). Most banks will just charge an “excess activity fee” if you go over that amount, but Bank of America charges a $3 fee if you have more than three withdrawals in a statement period. When Paul questioned why, customer service told him it was a “deterrent fee” to discourage him from hitting the Federal limit. “That’s like giving me a speeding ticket for going 27.5 miles per hour as a deterrent so I don’t go 55,” he writes. The rep was unmoved by his analogy. [More]
Chase Will Reinstate Debit Card Rewards If Fee Overhaul Is Delayed
By 4.7.11
Chase has pledged to reinstate debit card rewards programs if the cap on fees it collects from merchants per debit transaction, scheduled to go into effect July 21st, is delayed. [More]
Personal Finance Roundup
By 4.5.11
How to Reward Friends Who Help You Move [Wise Bread] “Here are some ideas for how to treat your hard-working friends.”
6 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Accepting a Job [US News] “Before you accept the offer, there are some important questions you should ask yourself to ensure that you have found the right job for you.”
6 Tax-Smart Ways to Help Your Kids (or Grandkids) [Kiplinger] “Uncle Sam (and some states) will reward you for helping pay for a child’s college education.”
30 Last-Minute Tax Tips [Smart Money] “We have identified eight deductions that many people overlook, eight audit triggers, six common mistakes, five reminders for investors and three ways to cut your tax bill right now.”
Deliberate Practice: Improving Your Finances, Career, and Life [The Simple Dollar] “People who do excel at a particular skill tend to rise quickly, earn more, and often eventually become independent contractors, earning even more.”
Even With New Fees, Most Checking Accounts Beat Prepaid Debit Cards
By 4.4.11
Pushers of prepaid debit cards say the fees they charge are comparable to a checking account, but a new study by Consumers Union, publishers of Consumer Reports and this blog, finds that by and large, checking accounts are still a better deal. [More]
How Did You Fare Financially Last Quarter?
By 4.3.11
A fourth of 2011 has already whizzed by, so you’ve probably either abandoned any financial resolutions you made going into the year or adopted them permanently into your lifestyle. [More]
Tips To Stop Yourself From Gambling
By 4.2.11
No matter how successful they are at making money, compulsive gamblers can lose it all and more if they succumb to their addictions. HealthGuidance offers advice on how to curtail the impulse to risk it all. [More]
Free Checking Lives On At Smaller And Online Banks
By 3.31.11
Now that free checking is dead at each of the four major retail banks, is there any where you can go to just have a simple checking account without paying a bunch of fees? Yup, look at your smaller local bank or credit union, or think about an online checking account, reports American Banker. Unlike the big banks that have such dominant market presence that they don’t need to compete on price, just who has more ATMs, the scrappier outfits are going to to use free checking as a competitive advantage and a way to get people in the door so they can try to upsell them to other banking products and services. [More]
Personal Finance Roundup
By 3.29.11
10 Things Groupon Won’t Tell You [Smart Money] “#1 ‘50% off? Not really.’ “
Why Your Nest Egg May Not Last [Wall Street Journal] “In short: After a good year, take out more, and following a bad year, less.”
11 New Websites for Your Job Search [US News] “Here are some new job search tools you should consider using.”
20 Tips for a More Affordable Auto Insurance Policy [PT Money] “There are two main ways to go about lowering your auto insurance premiums.”
If the Taxes Are Done, You Might Consider a Financial Tuneup [NY Times] “Instead of taking a mental health day off from work to recuperate from doing my taxes, I take a fiscal health day to knock off as many things from my financial to-do list as I possibly can.”
Strategies To Survive The New Economy
By 3.25.11
An adverse economy calls for a more conservative approach aimed at getting rid of debt and building savings. Savvy financial planners used to living large in boom times have had to adjust their strategies in order to thrive. [More]
Things To Put In Your "I'm Dead" Folder"
By 3.24.11
Besides the usual will, investment account information, and the truth about your secret crime-fighting identity, one thing you’ll want to put in your “When I’m Dead” folder is contact information for key helpers and vendors, writes Karin Price Mueller over at Second Act. This is info for people like your accountant, attorneys, financial advisers, gardeners and home security folk. It will really help out who is managing your affairs after you’ve passed. [More]
Personal Finance Roundup
By 3.22.11
5 Reasons Why It’s OK to Get a Tax Refund [Wise Bread] “You may end up feeling a little less guilty when you collect your refund check this spring.”
6-Step Guide to Renting Out a Room in Your House [Money Crashers] “Here are six steps to ensure a comfortable boarder situation where everybody wins.”
How to make the case for a merit raise [CNN Money] “To get a formerly routine pay hike, you now have to ‘exceed expectations,’ says a new study. Here’s how to make your pitch.”
Do Programmable Thermostats Really Save Money? [Get Rich Slowly] “In theory, programmable thermostats are a great way to save on home energy costs.”
The 5 worst pieces of financial advice [MSN Money] “Here are five examples of bad financial advice — and how you really should be looking at the numbers.”
Visa Letting People Send Money By Credit Card Could Be Boon For Scammers
By 3.18.11
Visa is launching a new service that will let people send each other money from their Visa or bank account to each other’s Visa debit, credit or prepaid card, as we noted yesterday. But while this will open up new vistas of convenience, and offer a way for people who are sick of scammers exploiting Paypal’s refund system to conduct transactions, I would at the same time expect to see new kinds of advance fee fraud using the service. [More]
Man Wins $5,000 Suing Debt Collectors, Thanks To Google Voice
By 3.17.11
Reader PJ sued a bunch of harassing debt collectors and won $5,000, and Google Voice made doing it really easy. Someone had put down his work cellphone number on their credit applications and ran up a bunch of debts and collectors started calling him multiple times per day. He told them he wasn’t the guy and asked them nicely to stop, but that only made it worse. [More]
Just Use "Block Caller" In Google Voice To Beat Fraudulent Debt Collectors
By 3.17.11
Using the “Block Caller” function in Google Voice is a far easier way to beat fraudulent callers than the one we described 2 weeks ago, says reader John. [More]
Chase Tests Out $5 ATM Fees
By 3.17.11
Banks are continuing to amp up the threat of making consumers pay for the price of increased regulation. Chase is testing out charging non-customers in Illinois $5 for withdrawal fees. In Texas, they’re trying a $4 charge on for size. Consumer advocates say its a scare tactic meant to muddy up Congressional waters, but banking experts disagree. “I think customers have taken for granted the cost of banks’ infrastructure,” says Margaret Kane, president and CEO of Kane Bank Services told ABC News. “ATMs are very expensive to install and maintain.” [More]
