July 30, 2010
The Consumer Federation of America tracks how Americans fall prey to schemes. Thanks to our recent economic times of stress, more consumers got duped looking for easy ways to make or borrow money last year.
To protect yourself from scams, think before you buy and check out “opportunities” with your local Better Business Bureau–when in doubt, check it out.
These were the top 10 scams for 2009:
- Auto: Misrepresentations in advertising or sales of new and used cars; lemons; faulty repairs; leasing and towing disputes
- Credit/Debt: Billing and fee disputes; mortgage-related fraud; credit repair; debt relief services; predatory lending; illegal or abusive debt collection tactics
- Home Improvement/Construction: Shoddy work; failure to start or complete the job
- Utilities: Service problems or billing disputes with phone, cable, satellite, Internet, electric and gas services
- Retail Sales: False advertising and other deceptive practices; defective merchandise; problems with rebates, coupons, gift cards and gift certificates; failure to deliver
- Services: Misrepresentations; shoddy work; failure to have required licenses; failure to perform
- Internet Sales: Misrepresentations or other deceptive practice; failure to deliver online purchases
- Household Goods: misrepresentations; failure to deliver; faulty repairs in connection with furniture or appliances
- (tie) Landlord/Tenant: Unhealthy or unsafe conditions; failure to make repairs or provide promised amenities; deposit and rent disputes; illegal eviction tactics; Home Solicitations: Misrepresentations or failure to deliver in door-to-door, telemarketing or mail solicitations; do-not-call violations
- Health Products/Services: misleading claims; unlicensed practitioners; failure to deliver
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Posted by moneygodmother
July 17, 2010
Nearly 1 of every 4 credit users has a poor credit score–600 or below. That means they’ll likely be denied if they want a loan or mortgage.
According to industry experts, this is the first meaningful distribution shift in scores since FICO instituted its scoring system in the late 1980s. Typically, only about 15% of credit users have scores of 600 or below.
Everyone who uses credit has a score, which ranges fro 300 to 850.
35% of your score is payment history (so pay bills on time)
30% is amounts owed (the more cards, the lower your score)
15% is length of credit history (longer is better)
10% is new inquiries made (make several and your score declines)
10% is credit in use (how much credit you have vs. how much used)
Do you have an A?
A = 750+ (you get the best interest rate for loans)
A- = 725-749
B = 700-724
C = 650-699
D = 600-649 (your loan rate may be at least 1% higher than if you had a 750 score
F = Below 600 (get help to raise your score)
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Posted by moneygodmother
June 30, 2010
One way you can save is to pay off your credit card balance every month. Yes, pay off those credit cards.
Interest on an unpaid balance can be 18-24%, and tell me where you can get that kind of return on an investment today?
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Posted by moneygodmother
June 27, 2010
Kick Start Your Savings is the summer program for Central Iowa Saves. To learn more, go to www.centraliowasaves.org.
For beginning and more advanced savers, nothing is more important than the emergency fund. As the cornerstone of your savings plan, an emergency fund is your protection against unexpected, but inevitable, expenses.
Step 1- Figure out your goal & a place to save. Having an emergency savings fund may be the most important difference between those who manage to stay afloat and those who are sinking financially. That’s because maintaining emergency savings of $500 to $1,000 allows you to easily meet unexpected financial challenges such as a car repair or medical bill and avoid high interest, short-term loans. With your emergency fund goal in mind, decide where you want to save it. Do you need to open a savings account? Do you want to add to a savings account you already have? Determine your goal and where to keep your emergency savings.
Step 2 – Save automatically. Have a portion of your paycheck, as little as $50 a month, transferred automatically from your checking to savings account. Individuals who save automatically are more than six times more likely to be successful long-term.
Step 3 – Track your progress. By enrolling as an American Saver, you can utilize the America Saves Savings Tracker for free to record deposits and monitor your progress. If you’re not sure where to find the money to start saving, cutting down expenses can be easier than you think. Institute a “no-spend day” and for each dollar you don’t spend, add to your emergency fun. Stay tuned for more ways to save!
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Posted by moneygodmother
June 24, 2010
Careless debit card use can cost you.
Each year, Americans buy more than $1 trillion in goods and services and pull out their debit cards to pay. In fact, half of Visa’s volume is from debit card purchases.
Last year, banks collected almost $9 billion in overdraft fees on debit cards consumers used. In addition, the steep fees collected from the merchants are being questioned. So watch for changes in your debit card transactions too.
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Posted by moneygodmother
June 8, 2010
According to the World Bank Development Research Group, the average annual income is $5,000/person worldwide (based on the 2003 population of 6 billion).
But as you might guess, a few hold a lot of the wealth. In fact, the 225 richest people hold $1 trillion of the world’s wealth. That equals the yearly income of 2.5 billion of the poorest people.
So where would you be on the list? check it out at http://globalrichlist.com
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Posted by moneygodmother
May 11, 2010
Since May 6, the stock market has been a bit of a land mine.
Whether the huge market drop last week was caused by a human or electronic trading error or the turmoil surrounding Greece’s economy, investors should keep an eye on the ups and downs. There could be some buying opportunities, albeit Proctor and Gamble won’t likely fall like a rock again.
Now is a good time to make a list of stocks you would like to have in your portfolio and determine the price to place an order to buy. You just might get it. What’s on your list?
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Posted by moneygodmother
May 6, 2010
I went to the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting last weekend in Omaha, and as always, walked away with some good perspectives.
The question-and-answer session with Buffett and Charlie Munger is the best–6 hours of candid remarks without notes. They fielded numerous questions from journalists and attendees (and there were almost 40,000 in the Qwest Center). The very first question to Buffett asked about his concern on Berkshire’s investment in Goldman Sachs. He said he was comfortable with it, and it was returning $15 every second.
One investor asked if Buffett was scared to invest while the market is so volatile, to which he replied, “If you are fearful, you are a broker’s friend but you won’t make money. Think how rational you are if you are buying farmland rather than buying a stock. You don’t look at a quote this week or next week, and if it (farmland) goes up, you buy; no one says, ‘how liquid is my farm?’ do they? You can’t expect someone to tell yo when to buy.” Munger’s two cents: Fearful investors need to “get your feet wet with a little more failure.”
It just goes back to one of Buffett’s most famous phrases: Be greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy.
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