Articles on Personal Finance

8 Ways Great Service Prevents Chargebacks

Sealing the sales deal is the key to opening the door to success. Getting in compliance can be cumbersome but can mean fewer charge-backs and more cash in your pocket now. More

Watch Out for Surge in CPI

Just to be clear, I'm also worried about a surge in inflation, but that's not what I'm talking about here. I don't know the future, so I try to stay away from predictions. But yo

No Limit, No Interest: What’s the Deal with Charge Cards?

Charge cards, like their credit card cousins, allow cardholders to use plastic cards to make purchases and then pay at the end of a settlement period, typically on a monthly basis. [more]

Personal or Business? Parameters for Choosing a Credit Card

If you own a business, and would like to enjoy the benefits of a business card, there are a few considerations you may want to be aware of.

How to Increase the Chance of Someone Returning Your Lost Wallet

It’s not a fun feeling. You’ve reached the checkout at the grocery store, you feel into your pocket, or purse, and realize that your wallet is missing. You heart stops, you walk ou

My best posts that got no attention

A few times I've written a post that I thought was good, but that seemed to vanish into the blogosphere without a trace. On my two-year anniversary of writing for Wise Bread, I

Tips for Avoiding a Foreclosure Prevention or Loan Modification Scam

Rising home foreclosures have made con artists very busy. These scammers use the public records to find homeowners who are in trouble, and then use a variety of schemes to take

When to Use Savings to Pay Off Debt

One of the most common questions over on the Wise Bread forum is some variation on, "I have $X in savings but $Y in credit card debt. Should I use the savings to pay down the debt?

Book review: Life Inc.

Corporations were invented a few hundred years ago--created to increase the wealth and power of favored businessmen (and the governments that favored them). They have become such

How To Avoid Gambling Away Your Investments

Some consider participating in the stock market as a form of gambling. While I agree that not everyone should be risking their money in certain investments, I believe that by takin

Making Home Affordable expanded again - borrowers allowed to refinance loans up to 125 percent of value

When the Obama administration first announced the details of the Making Home Affordable program in March, the guidelines for the refinance portion stated that the loan refinanced c

Shareholder’s Agreement: What It Is and Why You Need to Review Your Own

A Shareholder’s Agreement is designed to help you and your business navigate life’s tricky twists and turns. Here are 10 common clauses to look for in your Shareholder's Agreeme

Are the new home appraisal rules good for consumers?

On May 1st a new set of home appraisal rules called the Home Valuation Code of Conduct was put into effect by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in order to distance realtors and mortgage

The new normal economy

The economy is way short of full employment, so naturally, consumer spending is down. Sooner or later employment, I think, will return to normal levels. Consumer spending will re

Americans' savings rate up to almost 7% - who benefits?

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the personal savings rate in May 2009 was 6.9%. This a 15 year high and a far cry from the negative savings rates of just a few yea

Things wear out

I have a pair of shoes that are about to wear out. This sucks because they're shoes I wear pretty often (which is no doubt why they're wearing out). I'll probably have to replace

Car Sharing: Why Own When You Can Just Share?

Car sharing is taking off in urban centers around the world. Here's what you need to know.

47 Simple Ways To Waste Money

How are you doing with your money? Do you have everything under control, or are you spending a little more than you should? Well, if you'd like to blow even more of your money, thi

Look Out Consumers: Debt Collections Get Scarier

While consumers already have to be on constant alert about so many things involving their personal finances, there are still those that find ways to take advantage of a bad situati

Book review: The Education of an American Dreamer by Peter G. Peterson

The Education of an American Dreamer: : How a Son of Greek Immigrants Learned His Way from a Nebraska Diner to Washington, Wall Street, and Beyond is the personal memoir of Peter G