Have you ever experienced that sinking feeling when you reach in your pants or purse for your wallet, and it’s gone? You’re not alone. According to an exclusive MoneyTips survey, 62% of respondents have had their wallets lost or stolen. More than 1 in 3 had suffered both from wallet loss and theft, while 36%
Another Use for Your Credit Score You probably know that your credit score affects the interest rates you’ll pay for credit cards and loans. Did you know that your credit score could also affect your auto insurance rates?
It can in all but three states (California, Massachusetts, and Hawaii). Those three states have banned credit-based
You’ve taken steps to avoid identity theft, and maybe even applied a credit freeze to your credit report. You can sit back and relax, right? Wrong. You may have prevented identity thieves from opening new accounts in your name, but have you kept your existing credit accounts secure?
As opposed to identity theft where your
Let’s assume that you drew the short straw on the 2018 tax cuts, and you owe Uncle Sam this year. How do you plan to pay? There are plenty of ways other than the old-fashioned check submitted with a paper tax return.
If you file electronically, why not pay electronically? Electronic Funds Withdrawal (EFW) is
New Survey Shows Poor Credit Habits of Millennials Americans must love credit cards. As of the end of 2018, Federal Reserve data shows that we have racked up $870 billion in outstanding credit card debt on our nearly 480 million credit cards in circulation. However, generations vary in how they handle credit card debt.
Millennials
Chances are that if you have student loans, you need every bit of extra cash that you can get. Did you realize that your student loans might be able to generate some cash for you?
Under certain circumstances, you may be able to save on your tax bill by deducting the interest that you pay
Medical identity theft is an increasing concern for Americans. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, 27.9% of 2018 data breaches as of mid-June are in the Medical/Healthcare category, exposing almost 3 million records – second only to business data breaches.
Why is medical identity theft so desirable to thieves? Not only does it allow
How long have you been searching for your new home? The latest Housing Trends Report from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) suggests that you’ve been looking for a while and may be getting frustrated in the process. You may be coming down with the homebuyer’s blues.
Potential homebuyers are being squeezed in multiple
Have you missed enough credit card payments that your creditor has contacted you about your debt? If so, you aren’t alone.
According to survey results from the February 2019 PYMNTS.com Financial Invisibles Report, almost two in five (36.3%) respondents had been contacted by a creditor regarding an outstanding debt.
How did many of them resolve
If you need money and have bad credit, payday loans may seem like your only option. Payday loans are inherently risky – and expected payday loan regulation changes have been delayed, keeping the risk relatively high.
Payday loans are relatively small loans (often $500 or less) that are paid back in a short period of
Your checking account is a tempting target for thieves. You must stay alert for the many varieties of checking account scams – but first, you must be able to recognize a scam when you see one. Have you ever been targeted by any of the scams below?
Free Prizes – This scam usually starts with
No More Collegiate Debt Could the next drag on America’s economy come from student loans?According to StudentLoanHero.com, America’s student loan debt burden hit $1.56 trillion – more than any other kind of household debt except for mortgages.
Student loans are one of the most pervasive debts. The Department of Education offers assistance programs, but participants
Tax liens are claims made on your property by a government entity for failure to pay your taxes. A lien doesn’t mean your property will be seized – it just means that the agency applying the lien has the first right to your property compared to other creditors.
A tax lien on your credit report
According to the New York Fed’s latest Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit, America’s student loan debt burden has reached a staggering $1.44 trillion as of September 2018. Has that burden kept younger Americans from buying homes?
A new Federal Reserve study suggests that educational debt isn’t the primary reason for the homeownership decline,
Never mind what’s in your wallet – what’s in your savings account?
A savings account is your buffer against unexpected expenses. Without sufficient savings, you’ll probably rely on credit to handle financial setbacks – exposing you to interest charges at best and a potential debt spiral at worst.
According to a new study from ValuePenguin,
Claiming dependents on your taxes is usually a fairly straightforward procedure, but in some cases, more than one person (or couple filing jointly) will claim someone as a dependent, muddying the process. The most common example is when divorced or separated parents both want to claim their children as dependents for tax purposes.
Dependents can
Your smartphone is probably full of fun apps, but we have one more app to add to help you deal with a painful task: your taxes. Did you know that the IRS has a free smartphone app to help taxpayers handle basic tax-related functions? They do, and it has been in existence since 2011.
The
By Amy Beardsley
When it comes to student debt, more than half of borrowers are struggling to make their payments. Refinancing your student loan is an excellent option to lower your monthly bill or to pay less interest over the life of your loan.
Even though refinancing could make student loan debt more manageable, the
Debt, Shmebt Do you pay off your credit card bill every month? If not, how often do you pay off the full balance? If you haven’t in the last year, you’re with the majority of balance-carrying Americans.
According to a recent CreditCards.com poll, over half (56%) of Americans who have balances carry them for over
Nightmare: you’ve been called to a meeting with an IRS agent to discuss your tax return, and you can’t afford professional help. Did you know that you could have someone help you at low cost or even free? It’s one of your rights as a U.S. taxpayer.
You may know about the Bill of Rights,
What will you do with your tax refund? We hope you have something fun in mind, but a new survey suggests that you might use it to pay bills instead.
The Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) recently released baseline survey results for their U.S. Financial Health Pulse, a study designed to assess and track
When it comes to dealing with risk, America’s housing market struggles with balance. How can lenders offer affordable home mortgages for more Americans and still maintain proper safeguards?
The Great Recession was driven in part by overly risky loans that were packaged as securities and sold to investors who were unaware of the underlying risk.
You don’t have any financial issues to hide from your partner … do you? According to a new survey from CreditCards.com, almost 1 in 5 of us does.
The survey found that 19% of Americans have at least one financial account that they hide from their spouse or live-in partner – either banking or credit
Debt is a major barrier to financial well-being among Americans. While we tend to think of debt as an issue affecting young and middle-aged people, the truth is that senior citizens carry debt, too. Among seniors approaching retirement, debt can be an obstacle to maximizing savings. Retirees living on a reduced income may find debt
Are you having trouble getting a date? Could be your rap, your looks, or your excessive debt.
According to a recent survey by Finder.com, 72% of respondents say they would re-think a relationship with a partner in significant debt. (That’s similar to the percentage in last year’s Finder.com survey, so don’t expect debt to
Survey Suggests Economic Overconfidence If the economy is so great and unemployment is so low, why do so many Americans live paycheck to paycheck? And why don’t we seem to care?
The February PYMNTS.com Financial Invisibles Report attempts to answer these questions, noting, “For three consecutive quarters, consumers have been optimistic about their financial futures
Valentine’s Day may be one of the few times per year that you go out and buy fresh flowers, but that is no excuse for rookie mistakes. The gift of flowers is a reminder that you are thinking of someone and February 14 is an excellent opportunity to send this message. Make that gesture count
Do you plan to “retire in place” and stay in your current area, or are you interested in retiring in a different state? In either case, you may want to consult an annual study by WalletHub if retirement is imminent.
The study ranked all 50 states using 41 statistical metrics that were weighted and grouped
Your Medicare eligibility date impacts the coverage that you qualify for. If you are eligible for Medicare before 2020, then your options will be different than those of Americans who become eligible from January 1, 2020 on. Since Congress passed the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) in 2015, the plans with no
Preparing a tax return is not most people’s idea of a good time. As a result, we tend to procrastinate and wait until the last minute to file our returns. However, there are good reasons to start preparing your tax return as soon as you have all the necessary documents:
1. Reduce the Chance of
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