SWB: Alan B. Rowley II - Success Coach - ECoaching - Email Coaching

Random Thoughts from the Headlines

W gave a big fat veto to healthcare for 4 million kids, supposedly because there might be some abuse of the system.  If that's the case, we need to shut down every government program in place.  It's not the case though.  There's just too much money at stake in healthcare.  This is changing though because every year, there are fewer and fewer people with health insurance.  When insurance companies can't make money, they will start lobbying for a change.  Probably something we don't like but it will be a change.  How about making health insurance mandatory like car insurance? 

Pennsylvania is adding a couple new slot parlors and Massachusetts is adding three new casinos.  The government makes a lot of money off of casinos so these things are going up all over the country.  I read that the government gets about half the take so people protesting in PA are pretty much out of luck.  We are headed for some pretty rough times financially as a country and lotteries and casinos are just going to make things worse.  Desperate people are going to risk money they can't afford hoping to be the big winner and solve all their financial problems.  There is likely going to be a lot of get rich quick infomercials in the next couple of years and the people making the commercials are going to get rich quick.

Can You Outsmart the Credit Card Companies?

If you answered yes, you might be a very smart person.  You would probably be wrong but you might be very smart.

A study was done on the effects of a high IQ on things like income, net worth, and bankruptcy and while there seems to be a correlation between smarts and income, not so much on the other two categories.

Having a slightly higher IQ than average can lead to a reduced chance of bankruptcy.  These must be the people that are smart enough to know that they can't outsmart years of experience and closing loopholes.

There are lots of smart people working for the credit card companies that watch for people gaming the system. 

I did manage to find a loophole that they haven't closed yet.  Yet.  I'll let you in on the secret but try not to let it get back to the companies or they may close the hole.

Here's the deal.  If you don't borrow any money from them, you don't have to pay them any interest or fees.  Shhhh.  Pass it on.

5 Sword Points for PTE Rick for submitting this article.

How Can We Make Bad Ideas Worse? Combine Them!

I guess the secret is out now so I don't feel bad in spilling the beans here.  Fast food is bad for you.  There I said it.  I can't take it back.  Now you know the ugly truth.  Sugary pop the size of your gas tank, deep fried potatoes which has the effect of creating a cancer causing combination, and greasy burgers on white bread, it turns out, are not good for you.  This may come as a shock to some of you so I'll give you a minute to process (ha - process) it before I move on.

Time's up.

Avert your eyes if you can't take too much more because I'm going to let another cat out of the bag.

Credit cards are sucking the financial life right out of people.  The interest rates, the fees, the games, the fees, the unethical practices, the fees, the illegal practices, and the fees are chewing right through people's bank accounts and destroying lives. 

People, of course, play their part in all of this carnage.  They apply for the cards and use them when they shouldn't and think that it's all free money and fun and wonderful until the bills start showing up that they can't afford.

What happens when you combine credit cards and fast food?

Pay Your Bill On Time and Pay Late Fees?

That doesn't sound right, does it? 

Here are a couple of things that you may already know.

Credit card companies send out there bills shortly before the due date in the hopes that you'll wait a couple of days before replying.  Miss the deadline and they get to go after all the extra money.

Credit card companies set the due dates on weekends and holidays when they won't actually be in the office to process the payments.  When they come back to work, your payment will be processed as late.

Maybe you didn't know this one.

Many credit card companies don't just have a due date but they have a due time.  You have to pay your bill by the 15th and before 2pm (as an example) or it's considered late.  Go online after work and make the payment?  Too late even if it's the right day.

The cut off time obviously makes it too easy and too tempting for the greedy blood suckers credit card companies because a new practice has reached daylight.

Credit card companies just wait for the due time to pass before processing your payment.  Checks are set aside, queued in a specific order, "lost", until they are conveniently found after your due time is past.  Then they process it and add on a late fee and increase your interest rate.

When I first heard of this, I tended to believe it because, well, I trust credit card companies as much as the politicians that they have bought to represent me.  I didn't pass it on though because as evil as I think they are, it might just be a nasty rumor.

Well, a probe in India has found that credit card companies including Citibank, HSBC, ICICI, and HDFC Bank are doing just that.  Guess what?  If they are doing it to their customers in India, they're doing it in the United States as well.

"The report has also alleged that the banks delay delivery of bills and realisation of cheques towards payment just to charge increased interest rate, late fee and fines etc." [emphasis added]

I guess when all the weird rules can't get you enough money, just cheat and steal. 

What's in your wallet?

A blood sucking leach that has chewed it's way through the leather and is now trying to get a pound of flesh in any way that it can.

Full Article.

Since You Asked, Here's Your Reward Miles

I was asked about the possibility of redeeming Sword Points for air miles and I have decided to go ahead and do that.  I wasn't too sure how it all works so I'm going to my mentor, Capital One.  I will model my Reward Miles after their No Hassle plan because, really, who wants any hassle when they are getting a free plane ride?

So here's the deal.  I am going to offer a new way to earn Sword Points.  It's going to be easy and when you have enough points, you get a free airline ticket.*

The newest way to earn Sword Points is to purchase them.  Simple enough, eh?  For every dollar you send me (plus 14% interest**), you will earn 1.25 Sword Points.  You can then redeem the Sword Points for tickets.  I can give you the whole breakdown later but for now you can use this guideline.  If you redeem 60,000 Sword Points, I'll give you a free ticket worth $400.*

This means that you will only need to send me about $48,000 (plus 14% interest**) and you're off on vacation.***

Pretty sweet deal for you!  I'm nice that way, just like my buddies at Capital One who are always bending over backwards for you, the valued customer.  It's amazing that they are still in business the way they just give away money.

5 Sword Points awarded to EditorMum the old fashioned way, for pointing me toward Mouse Print where I found the information for this post.  They have information on all kinds of fine print, not just money.  Check it out and tell them Success Warrior sent you.

Credit Card Companies Get You Coming and Going

Unless you've been a business owner, you may not realize something about credit cards.  Yes, you pay interest on the balance when you use the card but the retailer also pays a fee everytime someone uses a credit card at their store.  They make less money everytime someone uses a credit card.  If they weren't making much before, this can seriously cut into their bottom line.

In my book, I mention that businesses would much rather have you pay cash than charge (unless it's their own credit card).  They have to take credit cards though because so much business is transacted that way.  Some profit is better than no profit.

How much do credit card companies make?  Last year, credit card fees for convenience stores exceeded the profits for the stores.  How's that for business?  They make more money than the business itself.

That particular industry is starting to fight back.  They are letting people use their driver license as a debit card.  You don't need to get a debit card (because regular readers will remember what a pain a plastic card can be).  If your license has a magnetic strip, they will turn it into a debit card for you.

"But wait!  That's not all!"

Pass the Catholic Buck

The Catholic church has to pay a settlement of $10 million for the sex abuse and subsequent attempt to hide the abuse by moving pedophiles to new areas where they could strike again on unsuspecting victims.

How do they plan on paying this settlement?  They don't.  They are asking the church members to pay it for them.  Each region has been set with a goal amount to raise to settle the debt.

It seems odd to me that people would pay the fee levied as punishment for the people that preyed on their children.  That takes a level of faith or indoctrination that is far beyond my ability to comprehend but this is a blog about money, not religious brainwashing.

Catholics in Spokane Washington are being asked to donate $1,000 per family on top of their normal get-into-heaven contribution.  And what if they can't afford it?  Put it on a credit card, the church is urging.  Hey, and you'll earn airline miles. Read Local Catholics Asked To Pay By Credit Card [emphasis not mine] if you think I'm making any of this up.

There is good news if you live in Brazil.  The Catholic Church in Brazil now issues its own credit cards so instead of airline miles, you can earn heavenly miles when you show your forgiveness to the church that helped pedophiles avoid being revealed for who they were.

This way the church doesn't have to pay its debt and they get to collect on the interest.  How cool is that for the church?

Helpful Hint: How to know when you are a success

As the more astute of you may have figured out, I like to study success.  It's been a hobby of mine for a long, long time.  I got more serious about it when I was a cop because I equated success as a matter of life or death.  It turns out that all those books, seminars, classes, and discussions with like-minded people were all a waste of time.  I found out today how easy it is to be a success and to know that you are successful.  The answer was in a banner at the top of a web page.

It read, "How to know your a success," or something very similar.  I was clicking off the page when it caught my eye. 

All my efforts for all this time and the answer is so simple.  Now I feel dumb.

So I applied for an American Express Rewards card and asked them for the one that would make me look the most successful. 

"Would you like the gold or the platinum?" the helpful sales rep asked me.

"Actually, do you have one that plays 'Hail to the Chief' as I take it out of my wallet?" I asked.

"We do sir but you don't make enough money to qualify for that one," she said, trying not to sound *too* condescending.

"But I want to be a success," I whined.

"Sir, you can still be a success with a gold card," she offered.  It sounded like she was offering a life-saver to a child to make up for the fact that the kid can't have the banana split.  A pepp-o-mint life-saver.

"I want to be a success.  I want to be a success," I screamed in a high pitched voice while I stomped my feet.

"Sir, if you don't calm down, you won't even get the gold card.  All the other successful people will have an American Express gold card except you." she said.  That got my attention and I calmed down.  I didn't want to screw up my chance at being a success.

"Okay," I said, "I'll take it but do you have a little plastic case and a lanyard so I can wear it around my neck so that everyone that sees me knows I'm a success?" 

Move Over Joe Camel, Here Comes Visa

You remember Joe Camel, right?  The poor guy was just out looking to have a good time and smoke a cigarette or two.  He was accused of being part of a conspiracy to get younger people (read children) to start smoking and there was a great campaign to ban him from ever showing his face again.  Cigarettes are harmful and addicting and it's not fair to try and entice children to begin hoping that you will create life-long customers.

If that's so bad and sugar addiction now kills far more people than smoking, why is Shrek allowed to sell sugar-laden cereal?  Ah, but that's a subject for a different post.

Let's talk about what Visa has learned from Joe Camel.

Hasbro is taking the money out of their Life game and players will instead use credit cards to make purchases.  They have changed the rules too in order to reflect the fact that players are going to get to the finish line dead-ass broke.  It used to be that the player with the most money won the game.  A capitalist theme if there ever was one but still better than this new twist.  Now players will acquire life-points.

What the hell is a life-point?  I have no idea and none of the articles that I read were able to help me out.  Maybe you get points for learning how to get a cash advance from one credit card to pay for your other credit card so you can free up enough money to put in the bank so that the check you wrote to cover your mortgage payment doesn't bounce.  That should be worth a few life points, I would think.

Whatever life-points are, there is absolutely no doubt that as much money as Visa has, they are morally bankrupt.  I have read the spin that both Visa and Hasbro (maker of the game "Life") have tried to put on this game release.  What they have to say is such crap that I don't even need to debunk it.  The bottom line is that they are trying to entice children to begin using credit cards in the hopes of creating life-long customers.  Thank you Joe Camel, marketing guru, for showing the monetary value of preying on children.

***

And thank you PTE Rick for the tip.  5 more SW Reward Points.

Yes Mark, you can have points for the Sallie Mae info.  =) 

WoW! Here's a great credit card.

You know how stupid I think Student Loan rebate credit cards and Home Mortgage credit cards are.  Well, CV Rick has gone out and found something even more stupid.

Introducing a credit card that gives you World of Warcraft points.  For every dollar that you charge, you get a WoW point.

Admittedly, I have no idea what a WoW point is or how valuable it is but it seems like it's a game component.  You spend real money so that you get game points. 

The interest rate is somewhere between 10 - 14% unless you make a late payment or go over your limit.  If that happens then in addition to the $35 late payment fee and the $35 over the limit fee, your new interest rate will be 32%.  A rate like that really should be illegal.  They make is so that if you slip up just once, it's very difficult to get free of their clutches.

I know people that play Wow and I know how addictive it is.  I also know how much they quest to get to higher levels.  If these points have anything to do with that, these cards are going to sell like hotcakes. 

The people at Visa are smart.  WoW is an addiction.  That's an easy way to score some money.  Piggyback on an addiction.  It won't be long now until we have other great cards available to us, like the Marlboro Visa and the Budweiser MasterCard. 

Surgeon General's Warning on credit cards?

"Surgeon General's Warning: Use of this product may cause stress related illnesses, divorce, impotence, bankruptcy, and the sensation that you are being buggered by a large corporation."

"Got Money?"

"Credit cards may not be suitable for everyone.  Consult your financial advisor to see if credit cards are right for you."

"The user of this credit card understands that there is inhrerent risk in their use.  Never start a debt program unsupervised.  Consult your financial advisor before starting any debt program."

"Only you can prevent credit cards."

"Teaching our children about safe credit card use isn't enough.  We need to teach them abstinence." 

"We're talking about your budget and you have to remember this: if the interest doesn't fit, you must, uh, quit."

"Who's in your wallet?"

"Show me the money!"

Good news for the Nigerian prince

Skye Bank is introducing a debit card and a credit card in Nigeria.

This should make it easier for the prince to transfer money to your bank account.  Or was he the chief financial officer for the prince?  Am I mixing up my scams?

Here's something that I'm not mixing up as I quote directly from the article and how the credit cards will be received:

"The scheme is expected to receive full support from the country's government and central bank. "

Is that an odd choice of words or is it right on target?

It turns out I was wrong. You can use credit cards to pay off your bills.

I just need to learn to think out of the box more often.  It is possible to get out of debt while using credit cards.  There is a bit of a trick to it.  Here's the trick.

You have to use other people's credit cards.

I might have to devote a whole chapter in my book to this strategy for paying off debts.  It seems to me that you could pay off your bills rather quickly if you were able to able to get your hands on the right cards.  This guy used a credit card from a business which seems like a good way to go.  Some businesses probably have some fairly high limits.  The higher the limits, the fewer card numbers you'll have to steal.

I wonder what this guy did to try to cover his tracks.  Not enough obviously since the cops caught up to him. 

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Australia has a plan to get rid of credit cards

They are going to make it so you don't need to carry around an actual card.  Instead, your cell phone will be your credit card.

"This will be fantastic for retailers, fantastic for banks and consumers won't have to carry an extra card. The mobile phone will end up being everything."

They make it sound like it's extremely annoying to carry an extra credit card.  That one extra Visa is the card that breaks the camel's back, I guess. 

Hint: it's not the card that's so burdensome, it's the bill.   

Want some advice?

I am routinely asked for advice in financial matters because of the role the I find myself in and for the most part, people want to hear what I have to say.  It's not the same for Rick.  CV Rick called me yesterday and told me a funny story.  The events of the story aren't funny but there are funny parts.

He said that he is now asked questions on finance which he finds odd.  I don't know if it's that odd.  He's a pretty smart guy, he's been through some financial troubles, he created a strategy to fix his money problems, and that plan is working.  That right there is enough to give him a call if he's a friend of yours.

What people probably don't know about him is that he reads this blog on a regular basis.  That fact plays into the advice that he recently gave.

Even people that know he visits this blog didn't know (until this moment) that he has read my book on getting out of debt.  Some of the information in there played a role in the advice he recently gave out.

So, while he's surprised that people come to him for advice, it actually makes perfect sense.

Enter Suzy, who has found herself in a dire financial situation. 

Suzy has been living large, larger than her paycheck would allow.  She has been making up the difference with credit cards.  She has also been playing a clever game to keep ahead of payments.  Part of that game has been to keep moving her balances to 0% apr cards when it turns time to start paying interest.  We'll talk about how clever this is later in the post.

The game has run out now.  The bills are due.  Suzy doesn't have enough money to cover them.  She negotiated with all her cards some time ago for a lower interest rate.  As soon as she defaults on them, the interest rates are going to go through the roof. 

I have heard of rates going above 30%.  If that doesn't give you a dry mouth, there's an Italian Family in New York that could use your services.

Suzy finds herself up against the ropes.  She says that she has good credit but as soon as she defaults, her credit is going to spiral.  She also knows that as soon as she defaults and the interest rate goes up, the task of paying on the cards will be near to impossible.  The high interest, the over-the-limit fees, and the possible late fees will eat up so much money that she won't be able to actually pay on the principle on the cards.    

The key to heaven is within your grasp

In fact, it's in your pocket.

Repent, make a donation, and eternal bliss is yours.

Okay Mark, I can't appeal to your patriotism but this one is a good cause

Not even you can turn this one down.  It's one thing not to be patriotic.  In fact, W has made that easy by twisting the meaning around into something that doesn't even resemble true patriotism.  Not to mention that you have to wonder how much patriotism serves a world that is shrinking.  How can we come to respect everyone else in the world when we are taught we are better than all of them?  All that aside, even you can't turn your back on the homeless.

With the Shelter Visa card, a little bit of each purchase will be donated to help the homeless.  You would be a completely heartless bastard not to agree that this is a good cause. 

I am going to ask you to do one thing though.  You have to ignore the fact that if you instead gave the homeless shelters half of the interest that you would pay with this card, both you and the homeless shelter would have schloads more money.  Instead of giving them pennies, you could give them hundreds of dollars and you would still have hundreds of dollars left over for you. 

It's sad when the middleman fee is hundreds of times more than what gets donated.

And it's sad that people don't see this and will get the card and use it because "it's a good cause."

For Mark. This should put you in the right spirit.

Now get out there and spend, spend, spend.  It's your duty as a good little consumer of the giant American capitalist machine.  Do your part.

If you can't afford it, throw down one of these patriotic cards and sign away your financial soul.  It's worth it.  You will receive rewards in heaven and maybe even some virgins.  Blessings will be given to you in this lifetime too.

If your cards are maxed out, refinance your home and pay them off so that you can once again use them.  It's like a credit card resurrection.  Yes, you can bring your Lazurus Visa back to life.  If only you believe.  You have to have faith.  Close your eyes to common sense and reality and trust in god and country.

Can I get a hallelujah? 

Have you heard of Universal Default?

If you haven't, you will.  Even if you weren't a reader of this blog, you would eventually hear about this little scam that's going on in the credit card industry.

Here's the deal.

If you pay one credit card late, all your other credit cards can increase their interest rate on you because now you're a higher risk.  This can happen even if you have never made a late payment to the other cards.

Make one late payment to one card and the interest on all your cards might go up.

One oops.  One, "No, I didn't send it in.  I thought you paid the Visa bill."  One mistake by the US Post Office.  One . . . well, you get the idea.

Is that scary or what?

I think it's a sign.  No, not a sign of greed.  A sign that the credit card companies feel that they have people by the short and curlies.  This is blatantly unethical and the word "lame" doesn't even come close to stating what kind of excuse they are using to raise interest rates on people.

The bottom line is that nearly every agreement has a little line where they can change your interest rate with 15 days notice.  Sure, you agreed to pay 12% interest when you got the card but at any point they can raise that rate as long as they give you two weeks notice. 

I think it's a sign that the credit card companies believe that they have consumers trapped.  Obviously, anyone with the ability to get out of an interest rate hike is going to.  No one is willingly going to stand for that.  But where will they go?  Transfer the balance to another credit card?  It's going to be the same story.  Refinance your house to get the equity to pay off your credit cards?  Not in today's housing market? 

The bottom line is that they are doing it because they can.  People have sold their financial soul to the devil and the devil gets to do what he wants.

There is an answer. 

I'm sorry that I betrayed you but the money was too tempting

Does God take Visa?

I should have seen this coming. I really should have.  It only makes sense.  In fact, I'm surprised that it escaped my attention until now given my beliefs on religion.

You can now use your debit and credit cards to buy your way into heaven. 

It isn't a new thing but the number of religious organizations that accept cards increased by 21% last year.  I think this is a trend that we will continue to see rise.

I suppose there are some important questions to ask. 

If you pay the toll on the Pearly Gates with a credit card and then default on that card, do you go to hell for using stolen money to try to trick St. Peter?

Do you get extra blessings by paying interest on your spiritual donation?

How long do you think it will be before consumers can get their church logo on their Visa card like colleges credit cards?

Speaking of the Devil.  In trial areas of California and Wisconsin, you will be able to pay for parking meters with debit and credit cards.

Quite frankly, I love the idea of using a debit card for this purpose.  Does anyone still carry coins around with them?  I suppose if I used a parking meter regularly, I would get in the habit.  I love my debit card and carry just enough cash around to cover tips.

A good rule of thumb that I heard was not to use credit on things that will be gone or used up before you are done making the payments.  This includes things like dining out and groceries and now parking meters.

Heavenly rewards, I suppose, last for all eternity so this rule should not stop you from paying god's bill with credit.

***

Today's Chronicle Post: Where was this technology when I was a cop?

No, I'm not over it but thanks for asking.

Even as sick as I've been over the last couple of days, I haven't been able to get these rebate cards out of my mind.  It's not the rebate card that's so bad, really.  Not really.  If you are in a position where you can use them where you would use cash and pay them off before you pay interest, then the few cents the banks throw at your account are fine.  I don't know if they make it worth it but there's certainly no harm in it.  If you have the discipline and ability to make it work that way.  But look at how that article that I pointed out started:

"As more Americans struggle to make payments on their homes, Wells Fargo & Co. is joining other lenders in introducing a credit card to help people pay down their mortgages faster."

When you target people who are having a hard time making their house payments, you aren't necessarily talking about people that are known for paying off their entire credit card balance in 30 days, are you?

And the reward is so small.  1% of your purchase and it doesn't pay until you have accrued $25.00 in rewards.  You have to charge $2,500 before they will put anything toward your mortgage. 

Like all these things, I like to look at the numbers.  Won't you join me?  =)

Help Spread The Word!

I am going to post more on the Home Rebate credit card and I came across another way that banks are "helping" people that I need to share.  Today I am going to cover a credit card offered by the Citi group in cooperation with Sallie Mae which is similar to the Home Rebate card but before I get to that, let me share this observation.

As I have scanned through articles on finance, one thing has become quite clear.  A lot of it isn't news.  I read the articles and the information that is posted and I want to hear "the other side of the story".  Where are the warnings?  Where are the cautions?  Some of them will say things like, "All borrowers should evaluate the usefulness on their own to determine . . ." but there is no mention of any specific pitfalls.

The article on the Home Rebate credit card wasn't news.  It was an ad.  It gave examples that were completely irresponsible and, quite frankly, impossible for just about everyone.  Who can afford to charge $2,500 a month onto a credit card?  Who can pay it off enough to keep doing that month after month for 344 months?  That part is completely overlooked to show what a great offer this card is.  So much of the news I read is similar or tells people what great lengths banks are going to in order to "help" borrowers.

I started this blog as a personal journal.  I wanted to track my journey to becoming debt free because I tend to think things through better as I write and I thought that maybe someone out there might benefit from seeing what I'm doing.  They might find inspiration, ideas of what to do, and just as importantly, things not to do.

I'm still doing that but I have expanded this blog out to watching what people in the money industries are doing.  Since the "news" services aren't doing it, I'd like to ask everyone that finds this information useful to pass it on to other people that might find it useful.  We really need to spread the word on what the news stories aren't saying.  People need to be aware of what parts of the "helpful" plans are being conveniently left out or like the information in today's post, hidden where it's not likely to be found.  We need to help people find the truth.

Thank you and on to today's post:

AAUGH! You can't be serious!

I can't believe the article I just read.  Now, I will be the first to admit that I'm a little (just a tad) sensitive when it comes to credit cards so let me run this by all of you to see what you think.  You also know how I feel about people buying houses that they can't afford and banks encouraging it to happen.  Is there anyway to make these things worse?

Turns out that yes there is.  Wells Fargo has figured out how to combine the two problems so that the situation is twice as bad.  If you're looking forward to a great way to commit financial suicide, Wells Fargo has the solution for you.

Good thing I'm keeping this neutral in my delivery because you wouldn't want to hear what I actually want to say about this.

Here's the deal.  If you're struggling to pay a mortgage that you can't afford, there is now a credit card out there where the reward is cash paid toward your principle.  For every $100 you charge on your card, $1 will be applied to the principle of your mortgage.