(This post was originally written January 3, 2010, and has been updated.) I moved down to Virginia in 2000 for my job, and one of my first stops was at a credit union to get a local savings and checking account. I’m still with the same credit union after nearly a quarter century, and though … Read more
People make mistakes all the time when they sell things. Having knowledge about what you’re buying gives you an advantage over a seller who really doesn’t know what they have. The more knowledge you have, the larger your advantage. Take collectible coins, for example. Knowing the key years and mint marks — that is, the … Read more
The credit union my family belongs to had their annual meeting a couple of weeks ago. During the question and answer session, one of the members asked that the credit union look for ways to increase the rate of interest earned on savings accounts. “They’re not paying a whole lot these days,” the member lamented. … Read more
There’s no good time for a company to have a financial security breach, but it’s hard to find a worse time to have one than the start of the holiday shopping season. Target confirmed that as many as 40 million credit and debit card holders may have been affected for purchases made between November 27th … Read more
I overheard a conversation at customer service at my financial institution as I was standing in line for the teller. Someone had an issue with their debit card. The cause was a $96 hold from a gas station. The customer service rep then said that they recommend that customers choose the “credit” option rather than … Read more
You’ve heard of the magic of compounding, right? If not, here’s a quick version. Let’s say you have a savings account that earns 1% per month. (Don’t laugh too hard. My dad had one that paid this rate at one point.) Let’s say also that you put in $1,000 at the start of 2012, and … Read more
I have to hand it to my credit union. Their marketing is pretty good! They advertised an unsecured loan special, good through today, at rates starting at 7.5% for up to 12 months for amounts between $500 and $2,500. It ends today presumably so that people can have the money in hand to shop Black … Read more
The Alexa Toolbar has some interesting headlines come across it. It draws on Reddit fairly often. The submitter for this article now has about 1600 net votes from describing their experience calling up a representative at a bank to contest their new monthly service fee. It’s clear that the representative could use some education in … Read more
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