Navigating the deluge of credit cards
In a country from which there are hundreds of credit cards to choose, picking one that best suits your financial needs and lifestyle is no easy task.
There are cards that offer rewards, cards that tout low interest rates and cards that have no annual fees.
Many of these credit card offers have been dropping into mailboxes [...]
Rate cut should help borrowers
The Federal Reserve’s dramatic three-quarters of a percentage point cut in interest rates may have temporarily stopped the hemorrhaging on Wall Street, which is good for people’s stock investments, but the cut will have more effects on consumers’ everyday lives.
The biggest impact, Quicken Loans chief economist Bob Walters says, could come not in lower interest [...]
Cut Debt Or Build Wealth
Cutting big balances on high-interest debt is a key part of sound financial planning. So is building up your assets. But if you can afford to do only one, which should you choose?
The answer depends largely on the size of your debt, the interest you pay on it as well as the growth you expect [...]
Paying credit card bills on time may not be enough
Friday night Joella Powers and her mother Carol Taylor were at Britton Plaza on Dale Mabry trying to get more Christmas shopping done. Powers says “I probably have five more people to buy for.” Joella says one thing is for sure she will not buy with credit cards this year. She prefers her debit card. “Because [...]
Credit cards: low rates, low fees, low penalties
Today the average bank credit card charges 13.69 percent, according to Bankrate.com. At credit unions it’s 12.16 percent, reports the National Association of Federal Credit Unions.
A 2005 report from the Woodstock Institute, a nonprofit economic development group, found no credit unions practicing “universal default,” a much criticized policy in which your lender raises your interest [...]
Lower Your Credit-Card Rates
I read your article about Coping With Credit-Card Rate Increases and was wondering if there’s any chance I can talk with my credit-card companies and try to get them to lower my rates? I know that you’ve recommended that strategy in the past.
You’re right — it never hurts to ask the credit-card company if it [...]
Universal Default Policy
You may think your credit card rate is safe as long as you make your payments. A Park Hill viewer found out that’s not necessarily the case because of something called the universal default policy.
Vera’s interest rate on her credit card jumped 15 points because she took over payments on her daughter’s credit card which was [...]