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Home2014

Year: 2014

Money and Life

N.J. teen sues her parents to force them to pay for college

March 4, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

Here comes an 18-year-old suing her parents to compel them to pay for her college education and other living expenses.  The details are in this story from the Daily Record in New Jersey.   The teen is living with another family, which is paying her legal expenses ($13,000 so far). [Keep reading]

Identity Theft

Bank: Don’t use credit, debit cards in Chicago taxis

March 3, 2014 Bob Sullivan 2

This is sure to raise alarm with consumers.  First American Bank in Illinois issued a warning to consumers on Friday, telling them to stop swiping their credit cards in Chicago taxis. The banks says in a notice on its Website that a system which processes back-seat plastic card transaction for [Keep reading]

Gotchas / Consumer

Where did all the credit card Gotchas go? Hard to find those hidden fees now

March 3, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

Over-limit fees. Retroactive interest rate hikes. Floating due dates and missing bills. Not long ago, millions of credit card users found themselves in a constant arm-wrestling match with credit card issuers, fighting off surprise fees and booby-trapped agreements. But times have changed. Complaints about late fees now make up only [Keep reading]

RoadTrip

Cell phone use while driving illegal, but smartphone use OK, court says

February 28, 2014 Bob Sullivan 1

Hands-free cell phone driving laws are widely ignored, almost entirely unenforceable, and illogical. Now they are also archaic, a California court has ruled. A California driver given a summons for using his phone with his hands while driving beat the ticket by saying he was using his phone’s map application, [Keep reading]

Gotchas / Consumer

Where Bob Sullivan is quoted by Reuters using the word ‘stinks’

February 28, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

Very proud to be quoted in a Reuters story today about  changes in frequent flier programs. Even prouder (more proud?) that I’m quoted using the word “stinks.”  As in: “Many middle-class Americans travel like crazy for work right now, taking red-eyes across the country – or the Atlantic – so [Keep reading]

Gotchas / Consumer

Free credit score estimator! And by free, I mean you don’t have to pay anything. I don’t even mean ‘you are the product’ free

February 28, 2014 Bob Sullivan 1

In honor of yesterday’s news that the Feds are calling for free credit scores for everyone, and in recognition that it’s probably a bit of a pipe dream, I’ve arranged with my pals at Credit.com to give you a tool that will guesstimate your credit score for free.  It’s very [Keep reading]

Credit cards

Finally: Feds say credit scores should be free to all

February 27, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

A high-ranking government official is urging banks to give consumers a free, regular peek at their credit score, a step that could revolutionize the relationship that Americans have with their credit.  It’s time that happened. Today, many consumers confuse credit reports and credit scores, and are equally confused about what [Keep reading]

Credit cards

ITT Tech tricked students into high-interest loans, feds allege

February 26, 2014 Bob Sullivan 1

A private, for profit college chain expected most of its students wouldn’t finish their degrees, and nearly two-thirds would default on loans, allowing the school to keep millions in federal tuition aid while charging students 16 percent  interest, a federal watchdog alleged Thursday. “(It’s) like financing your college education on [Keep reading]

Credit cards

Airline miles value sinking faster now; use them or lose them!

February 25, 2014 Bob Sullivan 0

If you are the type to hoard airline miles, it’s time to abandon that strategy. ASAP. Plan that big European vacation you were dreaming about. Buy some goofy electronics you don’t need with points. Gift them to family members. Nature gives us only a few absolute laws: things like gravity, [Keep reading]

Getting Unstuck

Take the 30-Day Getting Unstuck challenge, or buy the book

February 25, 2014 Default User 1

Click to subscribe or read on  Bob Sullivan and Hugh Thompson have helped the Miami Heat win consecutive NBA titles. Their book, The Plateau Effect/Getting Unstuck, has been featured on the cover of O! Magazine, and the Wall Street Journal, and the Financial Times. Hugh has helped grow a $3 [Keep reading]

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About me

BOB SULLIVAN is a veteran journalist and the author of four books, including the 2008 New York Times Best-Seller, Gotcha Capitalism, and the 2010 New York Times Best Seller, Stop Getting Ripped Off! His latest, The Plateau Effect, was published in 2013, and as a paperback, called Getting Unstuck in 2014. He has won the Society of Professional Journalists prestigious Public Service award, a Peabody award, and The Consumer Federation of America Betty Furness award, and been given Consumer Action’s Consumer Excellence Award.

Bob Sullivan

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