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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
OK, everybody move to North or South Dakota!!! At least that’s what Gallup’s annual poll of the happiest (and unhappiest) states would have you think. I’ve been in both recently, and I guess if you’re going to have brutal winters everywhere from Georgia to Maine anyway, why not? Despite brutal [Keep reading]
Young adults have fewer credit cards and used them less often that older consumers, a new study as found. A rising number are avoiding plastic altogether, although some may find using personal installment loans useful to them. Credit bureau Experian says so-called millennials — adults under 30 — carry 40 [Keep reading]
Bob Sullivan