Americans love a good rivalry. Yankees vs. Red Sox. Coke vs. Pepsi. Republicans vs. Democrats. And … leasing vs. buying? Leasing a car is sizzling hot right now. New data show one out of every three new cars is leased. And leasing may very well rule the future, as it [Keep reading]
Buy a pair of boots at an outlet store for $45, when it appears the boots once sold for $180, and you probably think you got a great deal. But what if the $180 price is fake? And the real original price was…..$45? Would you still buy the boots? Or [Keep reading]
Starbucks and Wal-Mart are looking a lot more like banks lately. Starbucks just announced a new debit card that sounds a lot like an airline miles card, while Wal-Mart is about ramp up its cash-back and other benefits on some transactions run through its plastic. What’s in it for these big [Keep reading]
About a month ago, I was excited to hear from a John Oliver / Last Week Tonight producer looking for help understanding specialty credit reports. Oliver’s show provides fantastic, entertaining TV stories about the serious (and admittedly) dry topics I’ve covered for years: payday loans, student loans, etc. So I was happy that [Keep reading]
It’s no surprise that consumers don’t like debt collection companies very much. It is a surprise, however, that complaints against them keep mounting, even after federal regulators sue firms for the very things consumers complain about — trying to collect on debts that don’t exist, calling at odd hours, contacting [Keep reading]
In good times and in bad. In sickness and in health. In Bull and Bear markets. Wall Street gets paid, no matter what. The people who manage your money, and most critically, your retirement, get their 1 or 2 percent every year. Even when you lost one-third of it, as [Keep reading]
We warned you about student debt “relief” companies three years ago. Since then, I’ve heard plenty of stories from scared students desperate for help who were steered the wrong way…on expensive detours that didn’t actually help reduce their debt burdens. Now, federal regulators are taking notice. The Consumer Financial Protection [Keep reading]
America’s new love affair with auto leasing offers some unexpected good news to drivers looking for used car bargains. A coming glut of end-of-lease cars will dump millions of used cars on the market in the next year or two, almost certainly lowering prices on relatively low-mileage, late-model cars with [Keep reading]
The folks at Acorns / Grow recently asked me to write a piece on rookie investing mistakes, which I’m proud of. You can read it here. The seven I shared with them include not investing enough, not risking enough, trying to time the market, and ignoring fees. If you are [Keep reading]
Old Betsy’s reign in the American driveway may be over. After all, why would you name a leased car? Americans are no longer looking for a long-term relationship with their cars. Auto leasing is in the midst of a historic rise, setting all-time records quarter after quarter, and now makes [Keep reading]
Bob Sullivan