Michelle Singletary highlights the importance of communication for couples when it comes to money management in this Q&A for the Clarion Ledger.
The couples who are most successful in managing their money are those who communicate early and often about money, agree on goals and roles, and recognize that essentially they are partners in business together, says Joan Gulley, chief executive officer of PNC Advisors, a major wealth manager.Get the full story here.]]>
Fast Food and quick-serve restaurants are largely taking credit cards now.
"QSRs were resistant because traditional credit card processing added transaction time (fast food, remember?)," but banks rose to the challenge with new technologies: average transaction time is now faster than if you pay with cash.Get the full story here.]]>
Do you play the 0% balance transfer game? The banks are losing their ability to sustain the practice and are starting to add hidden "nasties" that might catch you if you aren't careful.
He says that providers are also adding “hidden nasties” to their zero per cent deals, such as balance transfer fees, which should make them less appealing to consumers. It certainly makes it more difficult for them to choose between them. Newman says he expects an increasing number of card issuers to add fees to previously free services such as balance transfers, and that others who still allow free balance transfers set minimum spend limits, with fees attached if these are not met.Get the full story here.]]>
Record numbers of college students are having to work to help pay for rising student loans.
The survey of incoming college freshmen found that 47.2 percent of freshmen said there was a “very good chance” that they would work during the academic year. This rise in work follows a trend of increasing tuition rates and lower buying power of federal Pell Grants, which have shifted some of the burden for paying for college onto students.Get the full story here.]]>
Check out this amazing site dedicated to teaching children and teens about money. Practical Money Skills for Life.
]]>Want to get your children involved in saving and avoid debt later in life?Get some tips from Garnet News Service here.]]>
Notification letters are being prepared by ChoicePoint, Inc., for mailing to some 35,000 Californians and an additional 110,000 recipients in other states. Some consumer advocates worry that there is potentially an additional unknown multitude, maybe hundreds of thousands, still to be determined across the country who have been victimized and don’t know it yet.
If you are among the thousands of ChoicePoint victims or receive a similar letter, will you know what to do? Who will you turn to for advice and help?
“Consumers across the nation can expect to be bombarded with offers to sign up for credit monitoring services, identity theft prevention services, identity theft insurance, or other programs and services of limited value by companies aimed solely at profiting from the situation. Don’t get scammed again,” warned Paul Richard, RFC, executive director of the award winning Institute of Consumer Financial Education (ICFE) based in San Diego, CA.
“It's very upsetting and a seemingly insurmountable challenge for unsuspecting consumers to suddenly learn their most personal and private information may have been sent out to crooks, especially by a company, ChoicePoint, that many didn’t even know existed," Richard noted. "ChoicePoint began as a subsidiary of Equifax in 1997, one of the big three credit reporting agencies. ChoicePoint has about 19 billion public records in its database including DMV, license and deed transfers, military records, names, addresses and social security numbers." he continued.
ChoicePoint has also announced they are providing free credit-monitoring services to those 145,000 individuals it deems to be at-risk. Expensive credit monitoring services that don’t even monitor specialty report companies like ChoicePoint aren’t very useful. Most only monitor a single credit bureau anyhow. The monitoring service also does not address the task ahead for victims.
Identity theft insurance is not really insurance because as the ChoicePoint incident clearly points out it is virtually impossible to prevent or insure against this crime. In this case identity theft insurance, available on some homeowner policies, may help victims recover some of the expense involved in clearing their good name, but it will certainly not reduce the time and hassle.
Many companies who offer identity theft prevention and assistance services have already indicated the ChoicePoint incident would be considered a “pre-existing condition”, so signing up for their services now would be of little, if any, value to the at-risk consumer.
The ICFE has alerted its nationwide network consisting of hundreds of Certified Credit Report Reviewers and Identity Theft Prevention Specialists on how to assist consumers in prevention and help the potential victims of the ChoicePoint breach. They are trained in mitigating the serious damage that can and does occur in cases of identity theft.
The ICFE is also introducing its credit report reviewers and ID prevention specialists to a revolutionary software program called CasePlanner™, now available through and also utilized by the ICFE under a special arrangement with Global Fraud Solutions, LLC, an international leader in identity theft solutions. CasePlanner™ is a patent-pending identity theft risk reduction and fraud resolution software package designed to address the needs of both concerned consumers and victims of identity theft.
“The proverbial tangled web of deception is uniquely manifested in each case of identity theft. The gargantuan effort required to undo it is enough for 75 percent of the victims to throw up their hands in disgust and give up, until CasePlanner™," said Richard. "First, there are no monthly fees. Second, it is so comprehensive that users who are victims are assured of a faster, more complete identity and credit recovery. And third, concerned consumers who want to guard against identity theft and prevent it from happening as much as possible will find CasePlanner™ to be an enormous advantage,” said Richard, commenting on the ease of using the program.
There are many web sites that can help consumers understand the process of documenting and reporting their identity theft case. But it is still the victim's responsibility to discover how that information should be reported, to document their case for each organization they are working with, and then follow up with each of those organizations until the case has been closed. Working with a professionally trained and qualified individual is critical in identity theft cases.
CasePlanner™ provides many powerful tools in the fight against identity theft: 1) An awareness and prevention guide to help educate consumers how thieves gain their information and how to avoid being victimized; 2) An encrypted personal account registry where consumers can store their personal information enabling a rapid and decisive response in the event these accounts are ever compromised; 3) An ID inventory to document and record identification and financial instruments contained in their wallet, purse, vehicle glove box, etc; and 4) An exclusive resolution case file system that walks consumers step-by-step through the process of documenting, reporting, and resolving their identity theft case if they are ever victimized.
For more information about Credit Report Reviewers and Identity Theft Prevention Specialists please visit www.icfe.info.
For more information about CasePlanner™ please visit www.icfe.info.
# # #
For more information: Paul Richard, RFC
ICFE Executive Director 619-239-1401
For more information: Mike Barnett, -
General Manager Global Fraud Solutions 877-230-1164.
About Global Fraud Solutions, LLC:
Global Fraud Solutions is an international leader in Identity Theft solutions, and is dedicated to combating fraud by providing powerful and effective anti-fraud solutions for consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and law enforcement. From innovative and proprietary solutions, such as the patent-pending CasePlannerTM Identity Theft Case Management and Reporting System, to custom-developed solutions created for the unique requirements of individual clients, GFS’ anti-fraud products and services achieve outstanding results, significant savings of time, expense and resources, and improve operational efficiency and effectiveness. Many of GFS’ proprietary systems and services can be custom-branded for our clients’ organization.
Global Fraud Solutions, LLC
6905 South 1300 East; Suite 365
Midvale, Utah 84047
877-230-1164
801-789-2806
www.globalfraudsolutions.com
About the ICFE:
The Institute of Consumer Financial Education (ICFE), founded in 1982 by the late Loren Dunton (creator of the “certified financial planner” (CFP) designation) and it is dedicated to helping consumers of all ages to improve their spending, increase savings and use credit more wisely. The ICFE trains and certifies Personal Finance Instructors for its own curriculum. It also trains and certifies Credit Report Reviewers and Identity Theft Prevention Specialists.
The ICFE is an award winning, nonprofit, consumer education organization that has helped millions of people through its education programs and resources. It publishes the Do-It-Yourself Credit File correction Guide, now in its 16th printing and has distributed over one million “Credit/Debit Card Warning Labels” and “Credit/Debit Card Sleeves” world wide.
The ICFE became an official partner with the Department of Defense/Financial Readiness Campaign in June of 2004.
The ICFE is also a partner in the national Jump$tart Coalition for Financial Literacy and the California Jump$tart chapter. The ICFE staff is also active with San Diego Saves, an offshoot of America Saves, and the California Student Debt Resource Awareness Project (CASDRAP) (studentdebthelp.org).
The ICFE’s on-line help for consumers who spend too much was featured in PARADE Magazine in the Intelligence Report section. The money helps and tips are from “The Money Instruction Book,” a
course in personal finance, positioned to become among the premier programs in the new bankruptcy and debtor education initiatives.
The ICFE Web site at: http://www.icfe.info helps consumers with mending spending, learning about the proper use of credit, budget and expense guidelines, how to set up and implement a spending-plan
and also how to access financial education courses and videos and how to teach children about money. Other ICFE services include a free eNewsletter, and an online resource center of financial education
learning tools, including videos, books, software and personal finance courses.
Contact Paul Richard, RFC - ICFE Executive Director at 619-239-1401
Or Email at: e-mail protected from spam bots
Sent by:
Paul Richard, RFC (Registered Financial Consultant)
Executive Director
Institute of Consumer Financial Education (ICFE)
PO Box 34070
San Diego, CA 92163-4070
619-239-1401
Web site: www.icfe.info
In the wake of the ChoicePoint's loss of consumer data to con artits, Rachel Konrad gives her tips for anybody who feels they may have become a victim of identity theft.
Data collection company ChoicePoint Inc. warned last week that con artists accessed personal dossiers on nearly 145,000 Americans. Here's some advice from privacy experts if you receive a ChoicePoint letter or if for any other reason you believe you've become vulnerable to identity theft.Get the full story here.]]>
Cutting up our credit cards helped us climb out of debt (we paid off our last non-mortgage debt Friday, by the way!), but they're not totally evil.
Credit cards aren't the root of all evil.Still, I prefer to use cash or a Visa check card.But overuse is one of biggest reasons people fall into financial trouble.
Get the full story here.
]]>Personal bankruptcies are at an all-time high in Michigan.
More than 63,700 Michigan residents sought protection from their creditors last year, according to state bankruptcy court records, up 2.3 percent from 2003 and 38 percent from 2001.Get the full story here.]]>
A new study conducted by Harvard University researchers, published today in Health Affairs, has revealed that up to half of all personal bankrtupcies in the US are driven by medical bills.
For many, health problems set in motion a downward spiral that led to unemployment and subsequently the loss of health insurance, Woolhandler said. Or, their coverage was filled with so many high co-payments, deductibles and uncovered services that they couldn't pay their bills. Out-of-pocket expenses averaged $11,854 for the medically bankrupt.]]> While that may not sound like a catastrophic sum, the authors note that many of the debtors lost their jobs because of the medical problems. "It's an awful lot of money to pay if your income has been reduced because you're too sick to work," said Woolhandler.Get the full story here.]]>
Newspoll research commissioned by BankWest found 95 percent of Australians who currently have personal debt believe paying it off is a priority.Get the full story here.]]>But 60 percent say they cannot afford to make the necessary repayments now and are putting it off to a later date.
Although IRS outsourcing will not happen overnight, many are afraid that this initiative will create its own set of problems. The trouble is that private debt collectors will be receiving a 25 percent profit off of what they are able to collect, and who knows what types of scandals may arise from this. Private debt collectors may be willing to risk the rights and privacy of consumers in order to get their end of the job done.
The IRS claims that a taxpayer"s privacy will be protected throughout this process, but Springboard advises consumers to watch out. This course of action is not a guaranteed win-win situation. Consumers must be aware that private debt collectors only need to know your amount that is due, your name, address, and phone number. They are not entitled to any other personal information and do not need to know your tax return or tax history.
To help you survive this tax season and avoid being misled by private debt collectors, contact Springboard Nonprofit Consumer Credit Management at 1-800-WISE PLAN (1-800-974-3752). Springboard is approved by the IRS and Franchise Tax Board to provide repayment plans for tax liens. Springboard offers the IRS Advocacy Program, which helps consumers repay their tax debts on an installment basis.
Since President Bush signed into law the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, many have criticized the potentially dangerous contract between the IRS and private collection agencies. Under this new law, the IRS is now able to outsource to private collectors and enable them to collect consumer"s tax debt. Springboard Non-Profit Consumer Credit Management encourages taxpayers to be aware of what private collectors may and may not do in order to protect yourself.
Although IRS outsourcing will not happen overnight, many are afraid that this initiative will create its own set of problems. The trouble is that private debt collectors will be receiving a 25 percent profit off of what they are able to collect, and who knows what types of scandals may arise from this. Private debt collectors may be willing to risk the rights and privacy of consumers in order to get their end of the job done.
The IRS claims that a taxpayer"s privacy will be protected throughout this process, but Springboard advises consumers to watch out. This course of action is not a guaranteed win-win situation. Consumers must be aware that private debt collectors only need to know your amount that is due, your name, address, and phone number. They are not entitled to any other personal information and do not need to know your tax return or tax history.
To help you survive this tax season and avoid being misled by private debt collectors, contact Springboard Nonprofit Consumer Credit Management at 1-800-WISE PLAN (1-800-974-3752). Springboard is approved by the IRS and Franchise Tax Board to provide repayment plans for tax liens. Springboard offers the IRS Advocacy Program, which helps consumers repay their tax debts on an installment basis.
About Springboard Nonprofit Consumer Credit Management. Springboard, a nonprofit credit counseling and education organization founded in 1974, offers assistance with money management and budgeting through confidential counseling, debt management and education programs for financially troubled consumers. Springboard is accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Services for Families and Children, signifying high standards for agency governance, fiscal integrity, counselor certification and service delivery policies that ensure low-cost confidential services performed in an ethical manner. Springboard is a member of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling and the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies. Springboard has counseling locations throughout Southern California offering face-to-face, online and nationwide phone counseling services.
For more information on Springboard, call 1-800-947-3752 ext. 702 or visit their web site at www.credit.org.
# # #
Springboard Non-Profit Consumer Credit Management
Dianne Wilkman
951-781-0114
E-mail Information
The promises of debt consolodation vendors can be tempting when you're buried in debt. M.P. Dunleavey helps consumers avoid three of the worst debt consolodation moves:
]]>Marshall Loeb of Market watch explains how to manage your debt in a way that is helpful to your credit score.
The key in keeping your credit score high while taking on debt is to practice smart financial behavior. To avoid lowering your credit score:]]>