Tired of being nickled and dimed by the big banks? Savings hints, advice and tidbits of information for people who aren't interested in banking gimmicks but want a smart way to manage their money.
Here are 101 reasons to consider a banking relationship with one of the 6,800 credit unions in the US. Keep in mind that not all credit unions operate the same. Some are way more awesome while others are working hard to be awesome. Either way decide for yourself and hope this list can make you ask the question, “Is it time to make the switch?”
The Fair Credit Reporting Act gave consumers access to free annual credit reports from the three major credit reporting agencies through a centralized source, AnnualCreditReport.com, in 2003. A free credit score has never been a right.
Numerous sites promise "free" scores, but in reality they sign people up for a fee-based credit monitoring product. The score costs nothing only if the consumer cancels the order before the end of the trial period. Several sites will give you a free credit score or score estimate, such as the FICO Score Estimator at Bankrate.com. Score estimators, which provide a score range, may rely on answers to questions about your credit situation or come from credit report information, while actual scores are computed from credit report data. None of the free scores and estimates available deliver actual FICO scores, the most commonly used score by lenders. The free scores and estimates do, however, give you an idea of where your credit rating stands. "At the end of the day, an 'excellent' on one model is 97 percent of the time going to be an 'excellent' on another model," says Ken Lin, CEO of San Francisco-based Credit Karma, a site that provides free TransRisk scores from Transunion.
Surprise! Young Adults Have Smartened Up About Debt
Credit cards, with their high interest rates and exorbitant fees, have often trapped college students and other young adults in debt spirals that can be almost impossible to escape from.
However, the latest generation to hit young adulthood has learned some lessons that their older peers didn't -- and that's helping many of them avoid the credit-card trap.
Young adults have gotten a lot smarter about using credit cards, according to the most recent data from credit-score company Fair Isaac and its FICO Banking Analytics blog. Outstanding credit-card debt has fallen by nearly a third during the past five years, with the average outstanding balance among those 18 to 29 now standing at just $2,087 compared to $3,073 back in late 2007.
Moreover, a rising number of young adults don't even have credit cards at all.
In 2005, only about 9 percent of young adults went without a credit card, but that figure has jumped to about 16 percent, about double the rate among those 30 to 39 who don't have any credit cards.
Being in debt can be one of the most overwhelming financial challenges you'll ever face. That's one reason that Americans have worked so hard to break themselves of their debt habit, with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York having reported recently that debt levels have fallen by $1.45 trillion since the third quarter of 2008. In particular, credit-card debt is down more than 20 percent over that time frame, reflecting the priority of getting high-interest-rate debt paid down fastest.
Even if you have a lot of debt, don't panic! You can get your outstanding loans under control if you take a long-term view and start taking baby steps toward better managing your debt. Start out with these three simple tips:
1. Order your credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com, which is the free website set up under federal law to provide copies of credit reports to all Americans. You can get one free report every year from each of the three main credit-reporting agencies, and the report will tell you what loans and cards you have outstanding, how much you owe, and your payment history, including any late payments or delinquent accounts.
Debt can be a heavy burden on anyone, no matter what their age, but increasingly, young adults are starting out deeper in the hole. A recent report from credit-score provider FICO shows that student loan debt has climbed dramatically for those ages 18 to 29, with average debt rising by almost $5,000 from 2007 to 2012.
The good news, though, is that young adults are taking steps to get their overall debt under control, reducing their balances on credit cards and their debt levels for mortgages, auto loans, and other types of debt. With 16 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds having no credit cards, young adults are getting the message that managing debt early on is essential to overall financial health.
With the goal of managing debt levels firmly in mind, let's take a look at four things you should do to manage your debt prudently and successfully.
1. Get a Handle On What You Owe.
In managing debt, the first challenge is figuring out all of what you owe. By pulling a free copy of your credit report from annualcreditreport.com, you'll get a list of loans and credit-card accounts that major credit bureaus think you have outstanding, along with contact information to track down any unexpected creditors that might appear on the list.
4 Tips to Help the 50-Plus Crowd Manage Their Debt
Letting debt overwhelm your finances is bad news no matter when it happens in your life. But for those 50 and older, it's even more important to rein in the negative side of your balance sheet and get a handle on paying it down while you're still in a relatively strong earning position.
Historically, advisors have urged those 50 and older to get their debts paid off entirely before they consider retirement. But the trends in the U.S. show that advice is hardly being followed. The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies cites Census Bureau data showing that median debt levels have risen at a much faster rate for older Americans than for other age groups.
Specifically, the median debt level for people ages 55 to 64 rose by more than 60 percent between 2000 and 2011, while those 65 and older saw an even more dramatic increase -- nearly 120 percent -- during the same period. The JCHS also observed that among those 65 and older, the percentage of households with mortgage debt doubled to 40 percent in 2010, while among those ages 55 to 64, 70 percent now carry mortgage debt, citing the Federal Reserve's most recent Survey of Consumer Finances.
That's not the direction you want your finances going. As your future earnings prospects dwindle, it's more important than ever to get debt under control. With that in mind, here are four things that those 50 and older should consider.
Handling debt is a challenge for those of all ages, and the problems start early in our adult lives. It's only natural to incur some heavy debts in our 20s and 30s, as we're dealing with the imbalance between our relatively scarce financial resources and the sizable expenses of getting started with careers and families.
By the time you hit your 40s, you might hope to have moved past that phase. But although many people in their 40s have well-established careers that produce sizable incomes, they also often face growing financial commitments -- both to themselves and to family members. That's a big reason why 40-somethings have the highest levels of debt of any age group, and unlike younger groups, they've seen their debt levels increase slightly since 2005, according to figures from the FICO Banking Analytics Blog.
Debt management in your 40s isn't just about paying down debt. It's also about making sure you're using the right kind of debt to handle the most important expenses you face. Also vital -- maintaining the ability to repay your debts while simultaneously ramping up savings for your longer-term goals.
To address all those issues, here are four things that 40-somethings should keep in mind in dealing with their debt.
1. Anticipate Big-Ticket Expenses.
Dealing with unanticipated expenses can break the budgets of young adults. But by the time you hit 40, you have plenty of life experience behind you and can predict what sorts of financial demands will come up. In particular, major expenses like putting children through college or replacing a vehicle are fairly easy to foresee. The smarter you can be about planning for them beforehand, the better you'll be positioned to minimize how much debt you have to take on to pay for those expenses later.
Peter Dazeley, Getty Images No matter what our age, we all have to be careful about the level of debt we hold, but for those in their 30s, managing debt can be especially challenging.
According to the most recent data from the Census Bureau, those ages 35 to 44 have the highest levels of household debt of any age group; their $108,000 in median debt weighs in 25 percent higher than the next most indebted age group.
Increasingly, student loan debt represents a big portion of overall debt for 30-somethings. A Federal Reserve Bank of New York study showed average student loan balances for those ages 30 to 39 topped those of other age groups, approaching the $30,000 mark as of the end of 2012.
It all adds up to an increasingly difficult financial balancing act. Even as their incomes begin to grow as their careers take root, 30-somethings are also in the highest-consumption phase of their lives, as they start families, consider buying a home for the first time or upgrading to a more family-friendly home, and improving their lifestyles as their incomes improve. Debt is a necessary part of meeting those challenges, but you have to handle it correctly.
Let's take a look at four tips for those in their 30s to keep control of debt and use it to your advantage.
Sneaky charges hiding in your credit and debit card statements can add up to hundreds of dollars a year, a new study finds.
There are the charges that pop up when a subscription or membership is automatically renewed, the fees you're hit with when a free trial unknowingly turns into an ongoing membership, the extra charges tacked on to a purchase after you think you've been quoted a final price, and many other misleading and unwanted fees.
These so-called "grey charges" average $61 apiece and amounted to $14.3 billion last year, according to an analysis of 5,000 credit and debit card statements conducted by consulting firm Aite Group.
Millions without credit scores not so risky after all
Millions of people who either have little to no credit history or who have gone credit-free for a long stretch of time don't have credit scores -- meaning many lenders consider them too risky.
Millions of Americans don't have credit scores. And while lenders typically steer clear of this group, it turns out they aren't always as risky as banks think.
There are at least 64 million "unscoreable" consumers out there, estimates Experian, one of the three major credit bureaus. These consumers are often immigrants or recent college grads who have little to no credit history or they are people who haven't had an active credit account for at least six months. They may be completely responsible or they could be financial train wrecks waiting to happen -- lenders have no easy way to tell because there is no credit score available.
Credit scoring company, VantageScore, is trying to shed light on this mysterious group with its newest scoring model, which it estimates can assess an additional 30 to 35 million people who were previously unscoreable. It does this by looking at 24 months of credit history, rather than six months, and by considering alternative data like rent and utility payments and public records when available. "The unscoreables are a big population and in today's rather conservative credit climate they're having a hard time finding mainstream credit," said VantageScore CEO Barrett Burns. The VantageScore model was created by the three major credit bureaus -- Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.
VantageScore found that 10 million, or about a third of unscoreable consumers, aren't high risk at all -- instead, they were determined to be near-prime or prime. Burns calls this the "sweet spot" for lenders, because it means a consumer isn't so risky that a lender would lose money taking them on as a borrowerand they're not such low risk that a creditor is forced to reward them with the best terms available.
IT BEARS REPEATING! There's no shortage of debt detractors out there, and with good reason. After a credit crisis brought the world's economy to its knees a few years back, the downside of debt is painfully clear.
But there's a bright side, too.
Case in point: In 2006, Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize for his idea to use debt — as little as $200 or less — as a path out of poverty.
Or consider a young, middle-class American named Barack Obama who took out loans for undergrad and law school. That investment in education seems to have paid off for him nicely.
Last, look at revolutionary electric car company Tesla (TSLA), which recently fully repaid its 2009 loan from the government. If we had to wait until an entrepreneur had enough ready cash to build out an automobile manufacturing company without financing, we would be waiting forever.
The idea is simple: A handhold to opportunity that is out of reach becomes attainable when debt gives you a leg up.
The Dangers of Avoiding Credit My 25-year-old coworker thought she had done everything right when it came to protecting her credit. She paid off her student loans early. When she does use a credit card, she pays it off in full each month. And she’s never been late on a monthly bill. Her credit score was over 750, which is considered excellent.
Despite that stellar record, multiple lenders turned her down for a mortgage earlier this year. The reason, they told her, was that her credit record was simply too light. Since she had paid off her student loans and didn’t use much credit elsewhere, they had no way of knowing whether or not she would be responsible with a mortgage. In other words, she was being penalized for living a relatively debt-free life. To make matters worse, one of the lenders told her that because she was shopping around so much for a loan, the multiple inquires into her credit report were starting to negatively impact her score.
Her experience gets at one of the great weaknesses of our credit reporting system: In order to borrow money, you have to have already borrowed money. That’s the only way you can demonstrate that you are “credit-worthy,” as the credit reporting bureaus put it. To get to the bottom of this conundrum, I spoke with Rod Griffin, public education director for Experian, one of the big credit reporting bureaus. Here are two truths and four myths about credit reports:
Truth: Having little experience with credit can make it hard to take on a mortgage. The first thing lenders look for when assessing whether or not they want to give someone a mortgage is their credit history, says Griffin. That means you need to have open, active credit accounts in your name in order to demonstrate that you can handle credit.
If you've been trying to boost your credit score—which is a good idea, since people with higher scores tend to pay lower interest rates on loans—you might be going about it all wrong. It turns out that many people don't know just what helps, and hurts, their credit scores. Here are six ways you might be accidentally damaging your score:
1. Avoiding credit altogether. While living a debt-free life sounds like a good idea, it can actually make it harder to take out a loan when you want to. That's because lenders look for experience with managing debt—they want to see that you can make consistent, on-time payments each month—before deciding whether or not to issue you any more of it.
2. Comparison shopping. While checking around for the best price is a savvy move in theory, in practice, it can ding your score. When you call different lenders to check on mortgage rates or auto loans and they issue you a quote, they first check your credit history with the credit bureaus. That can look like you're preparing to take on too much debt, which concerns lenders. While the impact isn't huge, it can hurt people with limited credit histories more, because they don't have much experience to balance out the negative impact from the credit checks.
The quick answer is that Nigeria is a federal republic and not a kingdom. There are no princes whose funds are frozen and need help from an American stranger.
A few years ago, I had a friend who shared a story of a struggling prince in a far away land whose money was frozen. The prince had no one else to turn to for help. She was chosen. My friend corresponded with the prince’s lawyer through email and she was convinced she had won the lottery. She even excused the bad grammar in the email indicating English wasn’t their first language.
If you’ve read these emails you might be familiar with the story of a prince or benefactor of a large estate that needs help to pay for tax liens. Payment of these liens would free up the millions that were frozen. There are variations to this story.
My friend wasn’t going to receive a multi-million dollar payout immediately. The lawyer needed her help by clearing a smaller check. She would receive a cashier’s check for the amount of $5,000 and was asked to Western Union $2,000 back leaving her a hefty commission of $3,000 for her troubles.
My friend did as she was instructed and deposited the check. The check was cleared as a courtesy. [Keep in mind that check deposit holds vary per institution policy and government regulations. If you have a good relationship with your credit union or bank, chances are they'll make the check amount available to you in good faith. But that doesn't mean the check has cleared the bank its been drawn on.]
The House on approved a bipartisan bill that ensures lower interest rates on loans for students heading to college this fall.
Members of the House voted 392 to 31 to lower rates for undergraduates taking out government loans this school year to 3.86% -- cheaper than the 6.8% interest rate that kicked in on July 1. The new rates would be retroactive and apply to loans taken out after July 1.
The bill has been signed into law.
It has provisions for rates to go higher in coming years.
As House members debated the bill, many Republicans took credit for the deal. They noted that the Senate version wasn't much different from their own student loan bill, which linked rates to the bond markets.
"My colleagues and I have been fighting for months for a long-term market-based solution that will serve students and taxpayers, and the legislation before us today will do just that," said Minnesota Republican John Kline, who runs the House education panel.
The new rule doesn't apply to loans that students get from private lenders. It only affects Stafford loans, which are made by the U.S. government to help finance a college education.
On July 1, the interest rate on subsidized Stafford loans doubled from 3.4% to 6.8%, affecting 7.4 million students. The subsidized loans are based on financial need and account for about 26% of all federal student loans, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Unsubsidized loans and graduate loans were already paying 6.8% interest rates.
Debt-Free or Skinny? Survey Answers Which We'd Rather Be
Americans are notoriously body-conscious. We're also money-conscious. But does our obsession with weight and looks trump our concern about our personal finances?
A new survey by Credit Karma, a financial tracking and educational site, and Harris Interactive found that yes, Americans are more concerned about their waistlines than our bottom lines.
The most startling fact to come out of the June 2013 survey is that 72 percent of the 2,021 respondents said they would rather live with their current debt than gain 25 pounds and be completely debt-free. Only 28 percent said they would be willing to gain that much weight to get out of debt.
In a similar vein, 43 percent of those surveyed agreed with the statement: "How much I weigh is more important than how much debt I have."
And if you think that it's women care more than men about their weight, you'll be surprised to learn that men were more likely to agree with that statement (49 percent) than women (38 percent).
Among those surveyed, 74 percent said they have some debt and 46 percent said they have credit card debt. The mean amount of credit card debt for the group was $5,900.
Some of the other findings of the survey include: •64 percent of those surveyed think about their physical appearance more than their debt. •35 percent worry more about how they look than the debt they're in. •70 percent said they care more about their physical health than their financial health. But interestingly, when the cases got more extreme, the positions flipped. Given the choice between being obese and debt-free or their ideal weight but facing bankruptcy, 62 percent chose the option of being obese, while 38 percent would rather face bankruptcy.
The Worst ATM PIN "Number" Is....... 1234 Surprise! It looks like we have a problem with creativity.
There are 10,000 different possible four-digit ATM PINs , but almost 11 percent of PINs are 1234.
In a study by Data Genetics, in which 3.4 million passwords were analyzed, the most popular, and therefore most dangerous PIN numbers were discovered.
The top 10 most common PINs: 1.1234 2.1111 3.0000 4.1212 5.7777 6.1004 7.2000 8.4444 9.2222 10.6969
The study used data from "released/exposed/discovered password tables and security breaches," since you can't get access to PIN number databases, Data Genetics explains.
The top 10 most common passwords make up over 20 percent of all of the passwords found, and 26.83% of all passwords could be guessed by attempting the top 20 most popular combinations. The study also revealed that four digit numbers starting with 19 (the century today's adults were born in) are bad passwords.
Are you looking to buy a house? Rent? Here are some important numbers to keep in mind as they may apply to you and your transaction.
Your credit score While you likely know how important this little three-digit number is if you’re looking to buy a home (Zillow’s analysis of more than 25,000 loan quotes and purchase requests shows that you need a score of 740 or above to get the best mortgage rates), it’s also really important if you’re looking to rent — especially in a market that’s as competitive as the one we’re currently in. If you’ve got good credit, flaunt it! Use it, as well as your steady job, as a negotiating tool to get a better deal. After all, model tenants, who save landlords both time and money, are hard to come by.
Mortgage rates Mortgage rates are hovering near two-year highs — currently 4.29 percent for a 30-year fixed loan, according to Zillow Mortgage Marketplace — and they’re only expected to continue to rise, particularly as the job market improves and the economy strengthens. Point being, if you’re interested in buying, and you’re thinking long term, you might want to get off the fence sooner, rather than later. After all, every 1 percentage point increase in mortgage rates makes a home about 12 percent more expensive for buyers.
Total costs of home ownership Your housing costs — which include your mortgage, insurance and taxes — will vary significantly depending on where you live. It’s a good rule of thumb that costs should be no more than 25 to 28 percent of your monthly income. If you’re over these percentages, but are creditworthy, you can, of course, shrink your monthly costs by making a larger down payment.
Why Banks Might Refuse to Take Your Money People are being denied bank accounts based on what’s in reports that most of us never even knew existed.
Most people are familiar with the idea of a credit score — usually a FICO score or a Beacon Score — that determines whether or not a lender will let you borrow money, and at what rate.
But there’s a lesser-known credit reporting system that dictates what you’re allowed to do with your own money. And in some cases, these little-known systems end up giving banks reason to turn down consumers who are trying to open up accounts.
In a new investigation, the New York Times chronicles the financial rabbit hole a growing number of Americans have fallen into: They’re locked out of mainstream banking for relatively minor slip-ups like overdrawing an account, or because of mistakes in a file they didn’t even know existed.
“Hundreds of thousands of Americans are being shut out for relatively small mistakes,”
There's no shortage of debt detractors out there, and with good reason. After a credit crisis brought the world's economy to its knees a few years back, the downside of debt is painfully clear.
But there's a bright side, too.
Case in point: In 2006, Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize for his idea to use debt — as little as $200 or less — as a path out of poverty.
Or consider a young, middle-class American named Barack Obama who took out loans for undergrad and law school. That investment in education seems to have paid off for him nicely.
Last, look at revolutionary electric car company Tesla (TSLA), which recently fully repaid its 2009 loan from the government. If we had to wait until an entrepreneur had enough ready cash to build out an automobile manufacturing company without financing, we would be waiting forever
The idea is simple: A handhold to opportunity that is out of reach becomes attainable when debt gives you a leg up.
I acknowledge this concept is downright offensive to some these days. Many insist that if you can't pay for it, you shouldn't have it — case closed.
Smiling "experts" hawk books on this topic; politicians cry crocodile tears about a federal debt they themselves created; and all manner of moralists try to point out how the evil practice of borrowing is akin to slavery.
These folks prefer the more sinister examples of debt use — credit card horror stories, out-of-work art history majors with $50,000 in college loans, a bankrupt Solyndra in place of Tesla.
But the important thing isn't trying to establish debt as either universally right or wrong. Because it is neither.
Debt is merely a tool. And like guns or sleeping pills or an Internet connection, there are a wide variety of results that can arise from its use.
What we need right now is simply a better way to borrow — not an end to borrowing. We need to help young Americans get comfortable enough with debt to be responsible borrowers. I don't mean running up bar tabs, either; some young adults are forced to use a credit card to move for their first job or to take out a loan for their first car so they can commute to work.
I use the word "forced" because it's naïve and elitist to think everyone has easy access to a few thousand dollars to make their start in the world. Life ain't that great for Millennials in 2013, and those without well-off parents are often faced with the choice of borrowing or simply letting life pass them by.
We also need better regulations. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that was formed in 2011 after the financial crisis has a lot of work left to do when it comes to making contracts transparent and holding unscrupulous lenders accountable.
America can and must have an honest conversation about good debt vs. bad debt, and the proper circumstances for borrowing.
But the last thing we need right now is the misrepresentation of debt as categorically wrong, or the need to borrow as some kind of character flaw.
Tired of being nickled and dimed by your Big Bank? Come here to learn about REAL money - and how to manage your finances in a way that will work for YOU and not a BIG Bank!
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Ups to USPS!
When the host of HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" was questioned if he really wanted healthcare and the banks “to be run like the Post Office” (meaning "nationalized") he replied:
“I can mail my sister a postcard from California on Monday and it gets to her in New Jersey by Wednesday for .42 cents….. h*ll yeah I’d like it to run like the Post Office!”
Savvy Quote of the Day
"The retail industry has stolen the word 'saving' and redefined it as saving money when spending.
Saving used to mean putting money away in a savings account or in a piggy bank. But, now we must spend to save."
Tim McAlpine President/Chief Strategist Currency Marketing
Savvy Saver enjoys showing all the wonderful things CPCU employees do in the community on the CPCU Blog, loves helping members set up a savings plan that will help them with their financial goals & dreams @ her Brighter than a Bank blog and riding down the highway of life in her Hoopty! (check out her "I love my Hoopty" blogspot!)
My 25-year-old coworker thought she had done everything right when it came to protecting her credit. She paid off her student loans early. When she does use a credit card, she pays it off in full each month. And she’s never been late on a monthly bill. Her credit score was over 750, which is considered excellent.
A few years ago, I had a friend who shared a story of a struggling prince in a far away land whose money was frozen. The prince had no one else to turn to for help. She was chosen. My friend corresponded with the prince’s lawyer through email and she was convinced she had won the lottery. She even excused the bad grammar in the email indicating English wasn’t their first language.
