Do you use your credit card for most purchases? Are there times you prefer paying with your debit card? Perhaps you still use those funny green paper rectangles with numbers on them?
Cash hasn’t been forgotten, especially for smaller payments. A new study by CreditCards.com shows that 45% of consumers who have rewards credit cards
Credit Cards
America’s total outstanding balance on revolving credit, primarily credit card debt, is over $1.03 trillion. How much of that $1.03 trillion balance is yours? According to recent data from ValuePenguin, you’re more likely to have a greater share of that balance if you’re in one of two groups – the poorest or the wealthiest Americans.
By Roshni Chowdhry, head of customer experience at SafetyNet
Of the 17 million Americans currently enrolled in college, 74 percent qualify as what we used to call “nontraditional” students:
One in five is 30 years or older.
About half don’t rely on their parents for money.
One quarter are caring for a
With the school season starting again, education is job number one for students and parents alike. A proper education includes an education in personal finance, and one of the best ways to start is to learn how to protect yourself against scams.
You can and should learn fast, too, because scams can become more common
According to the Federal Reserve’s G.19 Consumer Credit report, America’s outstanding revolving debt – mostly credit card debt – was closing in on $1.04 trillion as of June 2018. How will we pay all that money back? An increasing number of Americans may not be able to do so.
ValuePenguin analyst Joe Resendiz calls credit
According to Federal Reserve data, student loan debt has surpassed $1.5 trillion and comprises 11% of America’s collective household debt balance – second only to mortgage debt. More than 44 million Americans have student loan debt, with an average balance of around $33,000.
Given those statistics, you might expect student loans to be the biggest
There’s a lot of financial advice out there, from the Wall Street Journal to podcasts to your brother-in-law’s stock tips to “A penny saved is a penny earned.” The infographic above, developed in collaboration with the Common Cents Lab at Duke University, shows six simple steps to get your finances on sound footing.
Is your credit card balance increasing or decreasing? Data from the credit bureau Experian suggests that it’s more likely to be rising. Credit card balances increased by an average of almost 6.6% year over year in the second quarter of 2018, adding $48 billion to America’s collective credit card debt.
Debt rose in every state,
Identity theft accounted for $16.8 billion in losses in 2017 spread across 16.7 million victims, according to Javelin Strategy and Research. Were you one of the unfortunate 16.7 million?
Victim or not, it’s wise to consider freezing your credit to make it difficult for identity thieves to use your personal data –
What’s a sure way to harm your credit score? Being late with payments or missing them completely. On-time payment history is one of the biggest factors in calculating your credit score – and, according to a new survey from CreditCards.com, women are more likely to miss a credit card payment and suffer the credit score
By Andrea Woroch
Have you spent too much on vacations, dining out, or entertainment this summer? Follow these seven simple steps to get your finances back on track and pay down your debt faster.
If you’re scared to look at your credit card bill and bank statements, there’s a good chance you went overboard over
Credit card issuers generally offer a grace period that allows you time to pay your bill without incurring interest charges on your purchases. The grace period usually lasts two or three weeks from the end of the billing cycle, and will be incorporated into the due date on your bill. Pay your bill in full
Your credit score is one of the primary items that lenders check when they consider loaning you money. A lower score means greater risk, and lenders will charge you a higher interest rate because of that difference – but how much could it cost you over the lifetime of a loan?
According to a new
Have you ever lied for financial gain? The odds are strong that you’ve done it at least once. According to a new study from finder.com, almost 4 out of 5 Americans have admitted to lying for some type of financial gain – and many don’t feel guilty about their lies.
Over 2,000 U.S. adults
According to Federal Reserve data compiled by MagnifyMoney, Americans paid $104 billion in interest on credit card purchases over the twelve months ending March 2018. That’s not outstanding credit card balances, which are near $1.04 trillion as of May 2018 – that’s just interest charges on the outstanding amount.
How much did you
Is a bad credit score dragging you down? Almost half of millennials (46%) feel that way, according to a new survey conducted by OppLoans.
It’s an understandable feeling, given that millennials came of age during one of the worst recessions in decades. Many millennials emerged from the recession with delayed careers or lower-than-expected
With hard work and discipline, you’ve managed to whittle down your sizable credit card debt to zero. What’s the next step? More hard work and discipline. Keep doing what you were doing, because it’s working for you.
The principles that allowed you to eliminate your debt established fiscal responsibility and gave you positive momentum. Don’t
When your credit score is down, it takes great effort to rebuild it. You have to take care to pay down your debts and get your finances in order. You may also have to change some of your spending habits to have the greatest impact. Consider these five spending habits that will retard your credit
Be Afraid of the Dark
Is your credit card information floating around the dark web, waiting to be sold to an enterprising criminal? That’s increasingly likely. According to the cybersecurity research group IntSights, black-market credit card information for sale has increased by almost 150% over the last 18 months – surpassing 4,000 credit cards
Prefer using debit cards over credit cards, but miss earning rewards? Some debit cards offer cash-back rewards – either as a straight points-based redemption program or as a perks-based program directed at purchases with specific merchants. You may have debit card cash-back benefits through a perks-based program and not even realize it.
Cardlytics is
Do you consider a rewards program as an integral part of your credit card choice? According to a new study by finder.com, close to one-third of Americans use credit cards just to get the associated rewards.
The finder survey suggests that approximately 71.7 million Americans (29.2% of the adult population) make credit card purchases just
By Sandra Parsons In a recent article, we described the implications of being less than three months late with your credit card payment. While late fees, increased interest rates, and a knock to your credit score are bad enough, there are even more serious consequences when your payment is late by ninety days or more.
Do you receive rewards from your current credit card? Unless you are just starting out and have no credit history, or are attempting to rebuild poor credit, you should be able to qualify for a rewards credit card. We suggest evaluating your credit card options to optimize your rewards – but consider these three tips
Where did you learn how to handle credit cards? According to a new survey conducted by the website CreditCardsExplained.com, there’s almost a 50% chance that you’re self-taught.
The survey of 2,500 respondents showed that 45% of consumers never had a proper education on credit cards. Of those who received their credit card education in school,
Are you satisfied with your credit cards? If so, are you convinced that your current card best fits your needs – or have you never considered other options?
Whatever the reason, many Americans tend to stay with their existing card. A recent survey from CreditCards.com found that 28% of Americans, about 49 million, have always
President Trump promised changes in Washington upon his election. Whether you are a Trump fan or foe, there’s no question he’s succeeded in that goal. Sometimes the change is precipitated by the President’s choice to lead an agency, as in the case of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
The CFPB was born out of
Which is the worst first-date mistake – talking about an ex, eating food off your date’s plate, or mentioning that you are heavily in debt?
We have no idea, but we’re guessing that a second date is unlikely in all those cases. A new survey from Finder.com suggests that in the case of excessive debt,
America’s economy is improving by most standards – but is it improving on the backs of excessive debt?
According to the New York Federal Reserve, total household debt reached a new high of $13.15 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2017. While the majority of household debt is mortgage debt, consumer credit rose by the
It is hard to beat the convenience of a credit card for purchases, but does that same convenience make it worth paying your taxes by credit card? It might, but that depends on several factors involving money and time. “Your credit card is usually a high-interest option, but it is an option,” opines Betterment Head
Why do you even bother signing your credit card receipts? Nobody ever looks at it. You could write your name, Donald J. Trump, Samuel L. Jackson, or Bullwinkle J. Moose and nobody would care – would they?
Theoretically, your signature does matter. That signature indicates a binding contract for the purchase. A seller could choose