The number one, single most effective way to increase your credit score is to pay your bills on time. Followed closely by not missing any payments. But if you’re following the first rule, you shouldn’t have any problems with the second rule. To begin with, you should know what area your credit score resides. Lenders [...]
If you’re a customer of ING Direct, you’ve likely received an email about this, but for those of you who aren’t or haven’t, I thought I’d share it. They’ve put together a Declaration of Financial Independence that they suggest we read and, if we like, sign on. It’s a pretty good document really. 1. We [...]
With all the major online banks lowering the rates on their online savings accounts, there are still a few that have pretty good yields. Shorebank Direct is one that I hadn’t heard of. It looks like they started offering an online savings account in the latter part of 2007 and from what I can tell [...]
If you’ve been reading Mark Cuban’s blog lately, you’ve likely noticed that he’s been talking alot about the current economic situation and also about how a person should handle his/her money. Today is no different. In a post entitled “Where to Put your Money Right Now“, Mr. Cuban gives some advice in a manner that [...]
Just as Lending Club announced that they had emerged from their quiet period, Prosper announced that they will be entering one. A SEC “quiet period” is the period of time between the filing of the SEC paperwork and when the SEC officially accepts and marks the paperwork effective. I can’t say that I completely understand [...]
My brother is currently scheduled to get himself married in the middle part of next month. As a result, I’ve spent an ungodly amount of money on plane tickets, hotel and rental cars for the event. Added to that will be food for a few days for all three of us (Me, My Wife and [...]
Yesterday, WaMu lowered their interest rates on their high yield interest bearing savings. Today, ING Direct announced a similar move. WaMu dropped their rate from 4.0% down to 3.0%. Not entirely unexpected given their recent troubles and their buyout by JP Morgan Chase. ING lowered their rate a little less drastically from 3.0% to 2.75%. [...]
Last week, it was announced that Wachovia was to be acquired by CitiGroup. The deal was to have the assistance of the FDIC and the Treasury. Today, in a complete change of direction, Wachovia announced that they were instead going to be acquired by Wells Fargo. The new deal, worth a reported $15.1 Billion will [...]
