Suze Orman, one of the most well known personal finance gurus in the media, announced a few days ago that she had created, and was releasing, a new prepaid debit card.  Prepaid debit cards, if you’re not familiar with them, are cards, like credit cards, where you prepay and then can only use the card [...]

CNN had this post on the Association behind the popular lottery game, Powerball, announcing that, starting January 15, 2012, the price of a ticket to play Powerball would be doubling, to $2 a ticket.  If you read the article, you’ll notice several things. The starting jackpot will also double, from $20 Million to $40 Million [...]

Goodness!  Did you see what the markets did yesterday?  Down almost 400 points!  If you haven’t already, you had better join the rest of the world in getting out while you still can.  The era of easy gains in the stock market and guaranteed returns has officially ended, and it isn’t pretty.  It’s time to [...]

According to CNNMoney, Wells Fargo will begin testing a program to charge a $3 a month fee for debit cards. Wells Fargo said Tuesday it will start charging a $3 monthly fee for debit card usage to customers in Georgia, New Mexico, Nevada and Oregon beginning Oct. 14. “We regularly review our pricing and take [...]

ING Direct, the online savings account giant, is running a bit of a special, when you sign up for an Orange Checking account, and use the debit card that is associated with that account 3 times within 45 days.  I don’t see anything about when the offer will be pulled, but these generally don’t last [...]

It wasn’t that long ago that we were talking about how far home sales had dropped (a new record low at the time) and the causes behind it.  It was just announced (yesterday or today) that new home sales have “unexpectedly” dropped another 12.4% to a new all time record low. To be completely honest, [...]

So, are you surprised by that news?  That new home sales dropped like a rock in May?  I can’t say that I am.  I try hard to keep my politics out of this site, but what the heck were they thinking?  If you look at the chart that CNNMoney has posted, you can clearly see [...]

There’s a new bank in town.   It’s called banksimple, and it might just turn a few of the more “traditional” banks on their heads.  Why?  Transparency.  I know, you think I’m joking.  But, I’m not.  Let’s start with no overdraft fees.  None. No overdraft fees. If you have no money immediately available, we will draw [...]

It struck me the other night, as I was reading a book and came upon a section on Ponzi Schemes, that insurance companies are borderline ponzi’s themselves.  The definition of a ponzi scheme is when the broker/banker/agent takes money and promises a unusually high return and then pays said return from the incoming money from [...]

April, besides having a horrible day for pranks, is National Financial Literacy Month.  It’s been promoted as such since 2000 and was officially recognized by the U.S. Congress in 2003.  Too bad they haven’t improved their own financial literacy since then.  But, I know many of us have.  There are several ways you can improve [...]