Finance Globe

Just a few years ago, free checking accounts were abundant. In fact, banks were basically paying for customers by offering free gifts and sometimes even cash bonuses for signing up and referring new customers. Those days are gone. According to a recent survey from Bankrate.com, only 39% of banks offer a completely free checking account, one that doesn’t have a minimum balance requirement. Last year, the number was 45% and in 2009, it was 75%. Free...

Sound decisions are the key to having a healthy financial life – to building wealth, paying off or staying out of debt, and to building a good credit score. Even the small, day-to-day money decisions have a big impact on your finances, so it’s important that you make the right ones. Always ask yourself whether you can afford a purchase before you make it. Affording something isn’t necessarily about having the money for it. You have...

As part of a settlement with the FDIC and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Discover is required to refund about $200 million to cardholders who enrolled in credit protection plans by phone. Payment protection plans charge a small monthly fee, sometimes a percentage of your credit card balance, and promises to cover your minimum payment if you lose your job or become unemployed. You could go months or years, pay hundreds or thousands of dollars, without...

Earlier this month, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that last year the nation’s median income slipped 1.5 percent to $50,502, the percent without health insurance coverage fell by 0.6 percentage points to 15.7 percent, and the poverty rate roughly held steady at 15 percent. On Wednesday, the Bureau released its findings on states, cities, and smaller communities for 2011. "The American Community Survey provides reliable, local statistics about our nation's people, housing and economy that are...

If you have limited credit or a rocky credit history, rest assured that there are credit card lenders that will consider you for a credit card.It’s true that you will pay more for financing than someone who has a good to excellent credit history. Your interest rates will be higher, you’ll be unlikely to qualify for credit card benefits such as rewards or low-interest introductory rates and balance transfers, and you may even be required to...

When we use our credit cards, we trust the businesses swiping our cards to charge the correct amount. But, don’t get so comfortable that you forget to check your credit card statement to confirm that the amount on your statement matches what you were supposed to be charged. A finger slip or computer glitch could lead to inaccurate charges on your billing statement. Don’t panic if you spot these. If you act quickly, you can take...

Credit limits can be deceiving. While they do represent the maximum amount your credit card issuer will let you charge, it’s not necessarily the amount you should charge. In fact, your credit card balance should never meet, and certainly not exceed, your credit limit. Having a big balance on your credit card is risky. Repayment Difficulties One of the most important rules of using a credit card is that you should never charge more than you...

A recent survey conducted by the FDIC shows that 25% of American households lack a savings account. You can certainly save money outside a savings account – by stacking the cash in a safe place or by leaving it in a checking account - but having a savings account has several benefits that those without an account may not realize. Your money is safer in certain savings accounts. If you’re saving money under a mattress and...

More than one in four American households do not have a savings account and one in ten don’t have a checking account, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation found in a 2011 survey released on Thursday. Roughly two-thirds of U.S. households have both a checking and savings account. The findings are the result of the second National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households, sponsored last year by the FDIC and conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The...

Reading about credit scores often can make you paranoid. You probably already know that credit scores are important for many of your financial moves – even those that don’t involve borrowing. Because your score is changing all the time, you might feel the need to check it all the time. However, keeping up with your credit score, especially your FICO score can get expensive and time-consuming. Instead of checking your credit score all the time, just...