March 12, 2010 by Jim | No Comments
If you’ve ever watched a television in the last few years, you’ve undoubtedly seen the FreeCreditReport.com commercials with the guy playing the banjo. In recent months, Experian, the parent company of FreeCreditReport.com, has come under fire because:
The credit reports are free, if you remember to cancel the trial (big if!).
Consumers have been educated by the [...]Your Take: Common
March 11, 2010 by Jim | No Comments
Sallie Mae, normally known for their federal and private student loans, is entering the savings account area with a high yield savings account currently offering 1.35% APY with no monthly fees and no minimums. It’s your standard online bank offering with a pretty standard savings account rates. In scanning their list of offerings, the only [...]Sallie Mae Bank Review from personal finance bl
March 10, 2010 by Jim | No Comments
Did you know that if you buy something with an American Express card and it’s lost, damaged, or stolen within the first 90 days, American Express will replace the item or reimburse you up to the amount of the purchase price? My friend Michelle just came back from a skiing trip with her family in [...]American Express Purchase Protection Perk from personal finance blog Bargaineering.com.
March 10, 2010 by Jim | No Comments
Now that we know how the IRS picks who to audit, we need to know what we can do to prepare for it. Even if you’re sure you got your return right, that you didn’t participate in an abusive tax avoidance scheme, or can’t possible be snared by the computers, there’s still that “randomly selected” [...]How to Survive a Tax Audit from personal finance blog Bargaineer
March 9, 2010 by Jim | No Comments
My friend Flexo at Consumerism Commentary has created the Plutus Awards, to celebrate the best in personal finance. The awards are broken up into two categories. The first goes to personal finance products and services while the second focuses solely on the best the personal finance blogging world has to offer. The nominees were submitted [...]2010 Plutus Awards from personal finance blog Bargaine
March 9, 2010 by Jim | No Comments
Last week, as I was research the “catch” on a return of premium life insurance policy, I wondered if it was possible for you to self-insure your life. The idea behind self insuring is that you take a lower level of insurance protection and save the difference into an account. With auto insurance, you could [...]Consider Self-Insurance Against Calamities from personal finance blog Barga
March 8, 2010 by Jim | No Comments
There’s a security out there that tracks the average (mean) length of time someone is employed and that figure broke thirty weeks in January. The average person looking for work will not find it in seven months… seven months of job hunting. Seven months of going to job fairs. Seven months of searching online at [...]How to Keep Your Skills Fresh When Unemployed from personal finance bl
March 8, 2010 by Jim | No Comments
How many times have you run into this scenario at work: you start a task that seems ridiculously inefficient or outdated, bring it up to your supervisor only to hear them say “that’s how we’ve always done it.” Sadly, it happens all too often and it’s the product of the “if it ain’t broke, don’t [...]Find and Plug Your Money Leaks from personal financ
March 5, 2010 by Jim | No Comments
The Huffington Post shared the thoughts of Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) on unemployment this week:
Unemployment insurance “doesn’t create new jobs. In fact, if anything, continuing to pay people unemployment compensation is a disincentive for them to seek new work,”
The title of the article is a little misleading. In quotes, Kyl said that benefits dissuade people [...]Your Take: Does Unem
March 4, 2010 by Jim | No Comments
Chris at The Consumerist referenced a story this week about how there are 16 states, including here in Maryland, considering a ban on using credit scores to make hiring decisions. Iv’e never personally experienced this or heard of a friend get denied a job because of their credit score, but this happens enough to warrant [...]Ban Credit Checks for Job Applications from personal finance blog
March 4, 2010 by Jim | No Comments
Life insurance sucks. If you outlive your policy, you spent a lot of money for not much of anything. If you don’t outlive your policy, well shucks you didn’t waste your money on premiums… but you’re dead.
So when my insurance company sent me a package detailing one of their newest offers, a “return of premium [...]What is Return of Premium Life Insurance? from persona