It’s every job applicant’s nightmare. You are in the running for a new position, then an HR representative calls with bad news: You’ve failed a background check. The firm thinks you have a criminal record! It’s a typical 21st Century database screw-up, but by the time you run down the [Keep reading]
You know I love a good privacy outrage as much as anyone. But a story last week in the Financial Times started a kerfuffle about Facebook posts and pictures impacting your all-important FICO credit score. FICO tells me in no uncertain terms this isn’t true. The incident is a good [Keep reading]
Remember last year when Verizon tried to trick its mobile users into trading incredibly personal information for a lame “rewards” program that only gave consumers near-worthless points in an auction game? Starting next month, it makes a lot more sense, thanks to the Verizon-AOL deal. Through “Verizon Selects,” people who took [Keep reading]
There’s a new crisis looming in the way Americans plan for retirement, and it’s not a much feared stock-market correction. The crisis is much more fundamental. For years, the accepted wisdom has been this: Invest all you can in that 401(k) or you are crazy. Not contributing to a 401(k) is [Keep reading]
There’s a growing disconnect between working parents who say juggling home and office duties is driving them crazy and their managers who don’t seem to understand the magnitude of the problem, according to a new survey. That 98 percent working parents say they have experienced burnout is no surprise. The [Keep reading]
Many companies have stopped offering raises and are instead offering perks in an attempt to keep workers happy. Perks are great, of course. But they aren’t always what they seem. I recently looked at a category of benefits I called “Trojan Horse Perks” for CNBC.com. I think you’ll know right [Keep reading]
When you heard that CIA Director John Brennan’s private AOL email account had been hacked, you probably had the same question I did: Why did he have an AOL account? As I told NBC’s Pete Williams yesterday, the jokes write themselves. Was his carrier pigeon kidnapped, too? AOL and CIA [Keep reading]
It is so wonderful to be here. Two years ago, I left NBC News and set out my own shingle as an independent journalist at BobSullivan.net. I’m still standing, still writing about gotchas and the economy and the unexpected consequences of technology. Thank you from the bottom of my heart [Keep reading]
FEB. 23, 2012 — You already have an “insurance score.” You have an “Employment Credit Score.” There’s even a “MedFICO,” which attempts to predict whether you’ll actually pay your doctor’s bills. Now that a “Facebook score” has been invented, I expect a “Grocery Habits score” and a “Music Taste” score [Keep reading]
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