tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121385512024-03-13T11:07:15.557-07:00The Real Truth About FinanceCreditcards are your ticket to bankruptcy. Creditcards come with agreements that even attorneys have difficulty understanding. If you are smart, you will cut up, burn, mutilate all your creditcards. This blog is about Creditcards, debt, and money. You gotta get mad about the abuse! I thougt creditcards were useful financial tools until I learned about the creditcards secret usage policies allowing them to charge my account without my permission. Now I have a better way to manage money.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05490853376244724046noreply@blogger.comBlogger135125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12138551.post-48330204648171404202010-10-23T09:40:00.000-07:002010-10-23T09:48:55.856-07:00The Truth About Wealth CreationYou hear arguments that the rich are getting rich, while the poor are getting poorer. Is that really true? Not according to some researchers who have tracked average income per capita of various countries for the past 200 years. They have even animated the graph so you can see how the wealth of the world grows over that time. You will also notice that countries where they restrict free trade Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05490853376244724046noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12138551.post-24853967274946074932010-09-27T14:25:00.000-07:002010-09-27T14:32:13.922-07:00New Rules, Old TricksThe Credit Card companies are up to the same old tricks. Since the Credit CARD Act of 2009, credit card companies are inventing all sorts of new fees to get around the new rules. They have to, to replace the $390 million they will be losing every year in fee revenue. It is the same old story, regulators impose new regulations to curb abuse of cardholders, and the extremely high paid attorneys Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05490853376244724046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12138551.post-77181338882415226392010-08-06T08:50:00.001-07:002010-08-06T08:55:01.069-07:00An FDIC Secret You May Want to KnowThe FDIC doesn't insure everything you have in the bank. Forbes Magazine recently reported on this. In fact, they even have a website to help you calculate what you will recover. You think you will get all your money back, that is what people assume. But recognize that FDIC insurance is an insurance policy just like every other policy. It has defined coverage in the fine print that has Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05490853376244724046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12138551.post-12798951251709561382010-06-17T09:54:00.000-07:002010-06-17T10:17:08.734-07:00Is The Business Model for Banking Viable?I ask this question in the title because every where we turn we find that banks can't make enough money to sustain themselves. This has been true for a long time. Back in the 1980s, Citibank almost went under because they were paying out higher interest rates for money than they could lend. That was when they invented issuing credit cards and exporting interest rates across state lines to get Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05490853376244724046noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12138551.post-25803315840944436152010-06-14T08:45:00.000-07:002010-06-14T09:21:48.120-07:00TeleCheckDid you know there is yet another company collecting information on your spending habits and telling retail stores whether or not they think your check is good? They operate much like a credit bureau except they collect information on the spending patterns in each one of your checking accounts. They don't have access to your balance, but they judge your risk by your check writing history in the Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05490853376244724046noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12138551.post-63005542062633076442010-01-08T06:15:00.000-08:002010-01-08T06:23:53.737-08:00Papers Please!If this healthcare bill actually makes it to the President's desk, you are going to need to start keeping proof that you have a health insurance policy or pay a penalty on your income tax. Our income tax system started as a temporary voluntary tax to fund a world war and has grown into a strong arm collection agency for the Federal Government. As the constitutionality of this gets tested, you Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05490853376244724046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12138551.post-46717269370728738412009-12-17T08:49:00.000-08:002009-12-17T09:01:08.297-08:00A Second Wave of Foreclosures This chart, which you see above in this blog post, illustrates the second wave of mortgage defaults that are coming. However, there is a thing called "Early Option ARM" and these loans are negatively amortizing already and so it is reasonable to expect they will be reseting early, like now, not next year. Sometime in the next 3 to 12 months, we will see another wave of massive foreclosures. DoAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05490853376244724046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12138551.post-9356350561509182472009-12-12T13:48:00.000-08:002009-12-12T13:57:17.515-08:00Something Has Got To Give SoonWe are reaching the point of no return. Soon, if not already, we will have to go into more debt just to pay the interest. What happens then? You might want to think about getting ready. This is building like a snowball and the fallout when all the money being printed by the Fed to fund this filters into the economy, you may not want to be holding U.S. currency. In fact, all the world currencies Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05490853376244724046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12138551.post-75477173473392816482009-07-17T15:13:00.000-07:002009-07-17T15:15:14.376-07:00Spend More Money to Keep From Going Bankrupt?And you thought you had to spend less money when you are going bankrupt. At least that is what all the financial experts say, including bankruptcy court judges. What universe are we living in now where you can spend your way out of debt?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05490853376244724046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12138551.post-71898424235303398712009-03-30T09:05:00.000-07:002009-03-30T09:20:48.020-07:00We are Now Facing the Realities of DebtDateline recently aired a show about how deep in debt we are, especially with credit cards, Americans are these days. The show reveals the consequences. It shows how the collection industry is booming as a result, and how they are getting more creative with their strong arm tactics. Follow the link and watch the videos and read about the show.The Accounts Receivable Management industry advisor Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05490853376244724046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12138551.post-30266899762565994432009-03-11T12:26:00.000-07:002009-03-11T12:39:13.127-07:00The Best Time Ever to Cut Up Your Credit CardsYou could make $300 for closing your credit card account! Citigroup, Chase, and Capital One are cutting back on their rewards programs, raising interest rates, and increasing fees. American Express recently offered some of their cardholders $300 to close their accounts. Citibank is offering a $100 gift card to those who were signed up for the "Thank You Rewards" program, and sent out a letter Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05490853376244724046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12138551.post-55313105807665058412009-02-23T09:11:00.000-08:002009-02-23T09:34:17.198-08:00More Debt Problems You Need to be Aware OfDebt causes inflation, it isn't the only cause, but since we have a "fiat" currency excessive creation of new currency devalues the existing currency. Our government has worked in concert with the Federal Reserve Bank to create almost $1 trillion in new currency in 2008. Here are the numbers from the St. Louis Federal Reserve. This is money already created. In 2009, we should expect to see thisAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05490853376244724046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12138551.post-77209031854635840272009-02-15T21:38:00.000-08:002009-02-15T21:43:33.175-08:00What You Can Do To Protect YourselfHere is a short video for you, to give you a little insight on why you should consider getting completely out of debt.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05490853376244724046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12138551.post-37217734067661611052009-01-08T10:02:00.000-08:002009-01-08T10:18:27.012-08:00Bailout UpdateIf you take a closer look at the bailout numbers, you will find that it is now exceeding $2 Trillion, with more expected by the Obama administration yet to be announced.Scott Snider, partner and chair of the government relations and public policy practice at Steptoe & Johnson, Washington, D.C., says $365 billion will be spent on the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Not all of this money Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05490853376244724046noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12138551.post-74502667341042788792009-01-05T09:12:00.000-08:002009-01-05T09:19:32.065-08:00Bad Bailouts, Good AmericansBy Robert P. Fry, Jr."I used to have my own construction company," a taxi driver named Bruce explained. "We built houses here locally in Birmingham.""How big was the company," I asked, "How many houses did you typically build?""Anywhere from 10 to 15 or so per year.""What happened?""We had a project going last year with 15 lots. We'd put in all the roads and sewers and had about 9 houses built Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05490853376244724046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12138551.post-69823156950433161442008-12-29T15:32:00.000-08:002008-12-29T15:53:51.251-08:00Credit Card Reform UpdateOn December 18th, Congress passed a reform proposal to take effect July 2010 that puts to rest all the abusive contractual terms that allow credit card companies to blindside cardholders with excessive charges. The reform includes:Eliminating double-cycle billing.Eliminating confusing due dates.Eliminating Universal Default.Stopping the charging of over limit fees from temporary holding amounts (Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05490853376244724046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12138551.post-12532544502316321002008-12-18T09:28:00.000-08:002008-12-18T09:35:27.457-08:00New Rule Against "Unfair Practices"There is a new rule against "unfair practices" at the Office of Thrift Supervision. It will be interesting to see if this actually makes any difference, or is even enforced. Chances are it will only mean that cardholders will be given an "express" reason for the increase in their interest rate that they would not have been given a reason for today. This isn't even supposed to take effect untilAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05490853376244724046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12138551.post-64573271415312185202008-12-18T09:12:00.001-08:002008-12-18T09:24:02.327-08:00The New Term "Rate Jacking"Citibank, and other creditcard issuers, are starting a new practice, raising interest rates on customers who pay their bills on time for no good reason.Banks are hurting, and they need to raise money these days. Why are they hurting? Because they push loans on people who can't afford them, then when the loan goes into default they think they'll start collecting tons of fees and interest. However,Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05490853376244724046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12138551.post-15631706306641581732008-12-01T16:31:00.000-08:002008-12-01T18:03:53.340-08:00It Seems It Will Never EndThe bailout total just keeps growing. If this keeps up, the Dollar will eventually be thrown into hyperinflation. Look at what is happening in Iceland this month. Watch the video on that web page featuring Glenn Beck. Here is how things are adding up so far:$29 billion for Bear Stearns$143.8 billion for AIG (thus far, it keeps growing)$100 billion for Fannie Mae$100 billion for Freddie Mac$Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05490853376244724046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12138551.post-18357789021309691572008-10-12T22:16:00.000-07:002008-10-12T22:20:08.952-07:00The Debt ClockYou know we are in trouble when the debt clock runs out of numbers.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05490853376244724046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12138551.post-27142260756650086442008-09-29T15:40:00.000-07:002008-09-29T15:51:06.855-07:00Is Your Money Safe?A lot has changed since the Great Depression. One thing that hasn't changed is that we never learned from the mistakes that caused it. We are repeating them. What does that mean for you as an individual? How do you weather the storm? Here is my take on the answers to those questions. First, put your money in a credit union. Credit Unions generally didn't get in deep with mortgage lending Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05490853376244724046noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12138551.post-46821267187202193152008-09-19T07:43:00.000-07:002008-09-19T09:43:48.106-07:00Everyone is faced with reducing debt nowLet's face it. Now that our congressional leaders and the leaders of the treasury and federal reserve bank have come together to decide to borrow more money to solve a debt problem, we have put a bandaid on this serious economic problem. We are refinancing, so to speak. But the debt problem is still there. As credit tightens, we will all need to learn to live with less debt. I have already done Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05490853376244724046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12138551.post-63154318794085085192008-09-18T09:43:00.000-07:002008-09-19T09:46:05.269-07:00Debt is Really the ProblemAs we move into this idea of the Government spending a trillion dollars or more to fix our credit crisis is more of the same mistake. Hear what Ron Paul has to say about it.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05490853376244724046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12138551.post-48963294511268238352008-09-16T08:48:00.000-07:002008-09-16T09:04:11.203-07:00CEO Bonus for a Credit Crisis?Food for thought...When my business started going south in January 2001, I took a paycut and did everything I could to ease the cash crunch on the corporation. It was the right thing to do. Now, I am watching bank executives walk off with multi-million dollar severence packages while their banks are taken over by the FDIC. This is equivelent to me having fired myself as CEO instead, and have Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05490853376244724046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12138551.post-81715126664965574242008-09-12T10:20:00.000-07:002008-09-12T10:34:21.881-07:00Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac BailoutThe warnings I have been posting on this blog for years starting to happen with this bailout. This is significant because these organizations are so large and are connected to the economy in such a profound way. Excessive debt destroys economies. People have been laughing at Ron Paul and his warnings. People laugh at me. They just don't listen, because our society does what everyone else Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05490853376244724046noreply@blogger.com0