Welcome to the new normal of $40 for late fees for missing your credit card payment due date. Over the past two years, the nation’s top issuers have been nudging late fees up from $35 to $40. Under current, non-existent credit card regulations, the “sky is the limit.” Indeed, credit card issuers are only limited…
Coronavirus disruptions to everyday life are spreading rapidly as fear and anxiety grip consumers, business-owners and investors. The amplification of misinformation via social media and governments has become a plague unto itself. For Americans the only “silver lining” is mortgage rates dropping to the lowest level since October 2016. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is now…
Savings secrets do not exist in Europe and Asia, but in the good ole U.S.A trying to put together a savings jar of $400 or $500 is elusive. With most families today, it is matter of falling back on credit cards for emergency expenses, which easily leads many into the great credit card trap. Senior…
Coronavirus claims for travel disruption takes off, as thousands of Americans fall victim to love fraud, beating robocallers at their game, and the economy looks good for now, but wit till the debt collectors start calling in 2021 and beyond. Travel insurance typically costs between 5% and 10% of the total cost of a trip,…
Smart savings begins with cultivating daily behavior like cutting back on the morning lattes, skipping happy hours, and savings with friends. Savings is more than just keeping the emergency cookie jar full with $400 or $500 in cash. It’s should include other goals like vacations, an automobile or house downpayment. The new Dobot app users…
Coronavirus breeds device viruses as hackers seek to exploit the fear and uncertainty of the possible physical pandemic. Consumers should look for mandatory arbitration clauses before buying. Loan sites get hit for misleading rankings and your financial health depends on baby steps. Coronavirus Goes Phishing Mimecast discovered a sample phishing email, showing attackers were disseminating…
Best credit card is an oxymoron. There has never been the “ten best credit cards,” or even the “one best credit card” you gotta have. Four decades ago there were two choices: “classic” and “gold.” To get a “gold” card with a minimum $5,000 credit line, you had top be making at least $25,000 per…
Multi-billionaire Robert McKinley was shocked head-to-toe when he discovered $9.9 billion in his personal bank account exactly two years ago today. His first move was to make a bid for the NFL’s Carolina Panthers which owner Jerry Richardson put on the market just north of $2.0 billion. The bids were running about $2.2 billion. Robert…
Late fees fluctuated between $5 and $10 in the mid-1980s when the credit card business was about to explode. Most of the ten largest issuers charged a 19.80% APR and a $15 to $18 annual fee. For credit card issuers the late fee was not a significant part of the revenue stream, as it was…
Professor Cardworthy, the “Money Explainer” of all things financial, was resurrected by Senior Payments Analyst Robert McKinley, reprising his role first developed in 2007 as the actor in a series of 50 “Cardworthy” YouTube consumer instructional videos. The 2007 project was shelved while Mr. McKinley was in a cancer battle and later placed on hold…
