Banking and Credit Cards
What Would Justin (Bieber) Do?
Apr 11th
Before you start to wonder whether the Personal Finance Help Center has been overrun by teenage girls, let me assure you that we are not becoming a Justin Bieber fan site. As a middle aged man, I don’t really care much about Bieber one way or the other. I’ve heard one More >
How to Spend Less on ATM Fees
Mar 5th
I’ve been a big fan of online banking for a very long time; lately however, I’ve been thinking about dropping my current online bank, ING Direct for one of our advertisers, Ally Bank. The reason is simple – ATM fees.
ING and Ally both offer similar plans with no minimum balance checking More >
What If a Family Member Were to Steal Your Identity?
Feb 23rd
If you’re like most people, you probably worry that someone might try to steal your identity. Therefore, you might shred your bills before you throw them away, sign up for a service like LifeLock to make sure that your personal credit score is protected and generally shy away from sharing More >
When to Stop Worrying about Maintaining a Good Credit Score
Feb 18th
Yes, maintaining a good credit score is very important. However, there are times when you can or even should step back and actively forget about trying to maintain good credit. Other times, you can do so if you’d like to, though you don’t necessarily have to worry about either way.
Your Good More >
Why You Need $500-$1,000 in the Bank
Feb 17th
The standard financial advice is that you should have between three to six month’s worth of salary in the bank. For most of us, that’s a real nice piece of change (on a salary of $50,000 a year, that’s between $$12,500-$25,000 that you should have just sitting around). While that More >
Win the Lottery at the Bank?
Feb 17th
Imagine depositing money into your savings account at the bank and getting a decent rate of return, whatever it may be (probably less than 0.50% because of the way the Federal Reserve has set interest rates, though one of our advertisers, HSBC Advance, offers 0.90% with no fees and no minimum if More >
Your Guide to When to Take a Bank Loan
Feb 11th
Interest rates are still at historic lows, though they won’t remain that way for long. So is now the time to take out a bank loan? The answer is a definite…maybe. The decision of whether to take out a banking loan really depends on your personal situation and the type More >
Need a Medical Loan? Ask Your Doctor.
Feb 3rd
The next time you visit the doctor’s office, the nurse may be handing you more than a medical history form. She may also hand you paperwork to take out a medical loan from the doctor’s office. This is the latest thing from doctor’s offices and hospitals all over the country.
Many doctors More >
An Estate Planning Guide for the Digital Age
Feb 3rd
Any decent estate planning guide written today should cover more than deciding that Johnny will get the car and Dianne inherits the house. While the decision of who gets what is an important one (and signing a will should be the very first step you take in estate planning) which can More >
Good Credit Lets You Benefit from Credit Card Concierge Services
Jan 26th
Maintaining good credit is about more than just having a 750 credit score. Good credit also means gaining access to a world of services that are only available to those whom the credit card issuers actually think are worth their time.
So what do we mean by that? Well, maintaining good credit More >