So last time we talked about Privacy. It seems most of you were pretty comfortable with the privacy policy, so we’ll move on to the meat of the disclosures; the account agreement.
So says the title of the joke/hoax email that you might have seen. The earliest account I can find on the internets is this from 2004.
As I was making my daily rounds of reading today, I ran across an interesting discussion over at Living Almost Large regarding financial sabotage. LAL says that a good example of financial sabotage are those who talk about wanting to get out of debt, but never make a concentrated effort to do so.
From the One Mile At A Time blog come this bonus for Starwood Amex holders. Until July 31st, you can get a 50% bonus on transfers to USAir’s Dividend Miles program. The upside is that 20,000 SPG points can be redeemed for 37,500 Dividend Miles. USAir has a less than sterling reputation as an airline, however their frequent flier program is one of the least devalued out there. As the article points out, unlike United, they don’t block from partner award availability within the Star Alliance. Furthermore, they have a relatively generous award chart.
The Credit Card Bill of Rights has rightfully been my focus for the past week or two. Now that it is a done deal, it is time to get back to some interesting, if non-political updates.
Once you reach your 50s, the focus on retirement really dominates your money strategies. So naturally, the advice that comes about for folks in their 50s is related to retirement.
Here’s an email we got recently
Dear Mr Credit Card,
I am in debt to CHASE to the tune of $13,000 and I also owe a total of $4,500 on other smaller VISAS (SAMS Club $2,000, Best Buy $2,000 Kroger $500). I have been unemployed for 5 years. We have exhausted my savings and we are only living on $11,000 a year. We do not have a mortgage and we own our home outright. We have no car payments. I cannot afford to pay $500 a month to the CHASE and I called their hardship dept and they are only willing to negotiate to $300 a month. I am still looking for work. My husband is on Social Security.
Do you think that we should take out a second mortgage out on our home?? IF I contact a debt negotiator firm and they negotiate with the card companies, what effect would that have on my credit score?? Does bankruptcy follow you even when you apply for a job?/ I heard that it does and it could impact your ability to get a job?? Can you please help me chose the “least destructive” path to recovery??? Please sir help me!! Thank you!!! Mrs
To be honest, this doesn’t just apply to newlyweds. It applies to anyone in a committed relationship - whether it’s new or been around for some time. However, I say newlyweds because the vast majority of these mistakes are done at the beginning of the relationship. I have newlywed friends experiencing some of these now.
In the aftermath of the successful passage of the Credit Card Bill of Rights, there has been much speculation on the future of the industry visa-vis reward cards (pun intended). On one side, you have myself and others who feel that the credit card industry was just throwing up so much smoke regarding having to cut back on reward programs. On the other hand, you have industry propaganda and some commentators declaring that era of reward cards will soon be over.
Happy Memorial Day to everyone. I am going to take a break from writing about credit cards for a couple of days. In fact, this post is a little whacky so please do not take this seriously. Today, we attended the Memorial Day parade at our township. Our kids rode on a fire engine with the Church Youth group. Below are some pics from the parade.