Most American adults have a credit score attached to their name. The score directly impacts each consumer’s cost of obtaining credit. Lower scores mean higher interest rates for credit cards, auto loans, mortgages, and so on. Many consumers use the terms “credit score” and “credit report” interchangeably, but that’s a […]
I’ll be doing some “Back to Basics” stories for the folks at Insedia.com. The series starts today with perhaps the most basic — but most important — element of personal finance in our credit-driven economy. Here’s my quick-and-dirty guide to dealing with your credit report. What is it and where […]
Kristin Kalning called Wells Fargo bank with a simple issue last week — she wanted to change the mailing address on a small, decades-old IRA account. Instead, she was peppered with what she felt were overly aggressive questions about her personal financial situation, and told she couldn’t do anything with […]
With the housing market steaming ahead like the housing bubble never happened, it’s easy to forget that about 7 million Americans lost their home during the recession. And I think it’s easy to forget what I believe was the biggest failure of the Obama administration. While banks got bailouts, homeowners […]
I’m constantly amazed at the unfair contracts consumers are forced to sign during simple transactions with large corporations. Lawyers load up standard-form contracts with one-sided, take-it-or-leave-it terms, often called “contracts of adhesion.” I’m in a crowd that believes one-sided contracts where there’s unequal bargaining power aren’t contracts at all, and so […]
I just can’t let this go by without comment. Warren Buffett seemed heroic this week when he released his federal tax bill after Donald Trump called him out in the Sunday night presidential debate. “No Donald, I’m not like you,” he was saying, “I pay federal taxes.” In fact, Buffett wrote in […]
Comcast has agreed to pay the largest civil penalty the FCC has ever assessed a cable operator to settle charges it billed consumers for equipment and services they never ordered. You might recall a series of stories I wrote nearly two years ago about “drive-by” modem upgrades that Comcast was […]
Let’s talk about a real issue facing America, shall we? Donald Trump said in the debate last night that he “will give economics to people.” I wish he did; we could all use some economics. So I’m going to give you some. Robots are coming for our jobs, and gaining on […]
You probably can’t help but follow the continually unfolding fake account scandal at Wells Fargo. When that story first broke, I wrote that the Wells way to do business – perverse incentives that encourage underpaid employees to cheat their fellow woman and man – is common. Well, today brought more […]
Elizabeth Warren rightly eviscerated Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf at today’s hearing on that bank’s wide-ranging scandal. She connected the dots neatly, showing that Stumpf made perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars in salary and stock while presiding over a crime involving two million fake consumer accounts. She then made the […]
Bob Sullivan