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The average family of four could receive $4,000 between tax refunds and economic stimulus rebate checks this spring. That's quite a windfall!
Officials wants consumers to spend it and boost the economy. But many people are planning to save or pay off their debts with the amount. How are you planning to spend your refund and rebate?
Economists and investors are eagerly waiting for the outcome of the next Federal Reserve Board meeting on January 30. With the stock market running wild and increased talk of recession, many are calling for another interest rate cut. This would potentially bring the federal funds rate down to 3.75%, the lowest it has been since September 2005.
Some are even asking that a half point rate cut happen before the next scheduled meeting. Others are worried about what a rate cut would do for inflation and don't think that it would help much with the existing credit crunch and mortgage crisis. What do you think?
Fair Isaac announced that they're no longer going to include authorized user accounts in their FICO credit score calculations starting this fall. Our team of credit experts created a detailed article to explain exactly what this FICO algorithm change means to your credit.
The FICO formula change was designed to stop credit repair fraudsters from selling access to established credit accounts, a practice called "piggybacking." However, 30% of the US population has at least one authorized user credit card account on their credit files. The score change will likely lower this group's credit scores fairly significantly. It will also make it harder for new consumers to establish their credit.
Given the benefits (stopping credit repair fraud) and the negatives (damaging credit scores), do you think the FICO credit score formula change is fair? Vote today:
Feel free to share your feedback in the comments section below. And if you have a question about the FICO score change, you can email us anytime.
I spent the weekend in Atlanta at John Ulzheimer's GetCreditWise seminars. Georgia has the highest per capita foreclosure rate in the country and the fourth lowest credit scores in America. While I was there, I talked to people who were trapped in dangerous ARM mortgages and a mortgage broker who recently saw her sponsoring bank go out of business. From that perspective, the future for the real estate market looks pretty bleak.
When you add in Bernanke's inflation concerns, a surplus of homes on the market, the impact of the subprime lending fallout and possible congressional industry reform...a lot of people in the business are starting to call time-of-death on the housing boom. One real estate broker in California went as far as saying "Real estate in America is officially dead" in a must-read post on his blog:
In my opinion, the ultimate affect of the real estate bubble -- and its mostly unanticipated implosion -- is that the entire asset class will fall out of favor for many years, possibly for a generation. Only a select few will benefit -- those who had the foresight to sell now and squirrel away the money safely before the real anguish begins.
Okay, okay! So maybe that is one extremely pessimistic view. There are plenty of people out there who think the housing market is going to continue to grow. What do you think will happen to the real estate market?
Credit-card-mania has taken over Capitol Hill! All this talk of late fees, over-limit fees, default APR's, introductory rates, double-billing cycles, universal default clauses, retroactive interest rates and foreign currency conversion fees has my head spinning! What do you think about Congress investigating the credit card industry? Take our online survey today:
Tuesday's survey results from TrueCredit.com are still nagging me. Do 63% of consumers really not know their credit score? They can't even guess where they stand on the traditional 300-850 scale? I guess I am a credit geek, but this just seems really surprising to me.
Let's put it to a vote, readers. Do you know your credit score? Where does your score stand? Take our online survey today. If you really don't know your score, use Credit.com's free Credit Score Compass to estimate where you stand:
As a personal finance writer, I am having so much fun with the new congress! It's only been a few weeks since the 110th congress took power but already we've seen action on the credit bureau dispute process, health care costs, IRS collection agencies, reverse mortgages, student loan interest rates, health care costs, Social Security number privacy and more. It's hard to keep up with all these exciting new consumer finance developments!
The latest news on financial industry reforms comes from Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. Dodd has vowed to investigate credit card issuer practices that are unfair to consumers and has planned a series of hearings. In response to this new scrutiny, other Democrats have been submitting a variety of ideas for reform. For today's survey, share your opinion about which of the proposed reforms you'd most like see come into effect:
Don't see your ideal credit card reform on this list? Share your ideas in the comments section below!It's been almost three weeks since the start of the New Year. We've been talking a lot about financial resolutions on the blog during this time. On January 2nd, we took a poll to see what financial resolutions were the most popular this year. You chose boosting savings and investments as your top goal; followed by getting out of debt, planning for a home purchase and improving your credit scores.
Our financial experts have loaded you up with tips and resources, now let's check in to see how you are doing. Have you made progress on your financial resolution for 2007?
Now that Black Friday and Cyber Monday have passed, most of us have probably at least started on our holiday shopping. I have about 40% of my gifts purchased and mostly from online stores. Although I don't have a detailed budget, I have a good idea of how much I am spending on gifts this year.
As much as car dealers and electronic stores want to make us think that big ticket gifts are standard, the statistics don't match those messages. According to the National Retail Federation's annual predictions, shoppers are planning to spend an average of $791.10 this holiday season, up from $738.11 in 2005. "As usual, most holiday budgets will be allocated to gifts, with the average person spending $451.34 on family, $85.60 on friends, $22.40 on coworkers, and $44.52 on other people like clergy, teachers, and babysitters." Does this match your holiday gift budget for 2006?
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Did you vote yet today? Here in California, voters faced an extremely long ballot full of propositions and local measures. I voted this morning on cigarette taxes, school bonds, parking tax ordinances, teleconferencing policies and rules requiring the mayor to attend board of supervisors meetings. My finished ballot was ten pages long!
Since it seems we are voting on anything and everything this year, why not add some credit and financial measures on the ballot too?! CreditBloggers.com has a few dream laws that we wish were in the election this November. Which would you vote for?
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Happy election day! Don't forget to vote!
The New York Times article that exposed RFID security loopholes on Monday seems to have everyone worrying about their credit card privacy. We discussed the issue earlier this week and showed you three easy ways to block unwanted RFID readers. Now, let's see what you really think about this issue!
Everyone faces their own unique financial challenges. It could be that you struggle to make ends meet or that you are worried about your credit score. My own challenge is how to best to save and invest each month. Buying a home is an expensive proposition out here in San Francisco, so I have to come up with different ways to save and earn tax breaks. What is your biggest challenge?
The holidays are just around the corner and many people are starting to think about taking vacations. I'm starting to plan a trip to Thailand myself! I've been saving money each month that I'll use to pay for this big trip. But not many people finance their travels this way. Credit cards, even with their 3% currency conversion fees, are a popular way to pay for a vacation. How do you plan to pay for your next trip? Take our online poll!
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