Holiday money charges to be made clearer
Measures to provide customers with clearer information about using credit and debit cards abroad have been announced by The UK Cards Association and the British Bankers Association (BBA). These changes have been achieved working with the OFT, following Consumer Focus super complaint.
The banking industry will be improving the information it provides about: choosing a current account or credit card; going abroad; and checking statements back at home. This builds on a range of earlier improvements aimed at helping consumers manage their finances.
In summary these improvements will:
Make it easier to compare services by:
Making charges more easily understood. The industry will work with the OFT to improve how it describes foreign transaction charges. This will be done by the end of 2012.
Help customers compare and pick the right product by:
Improving credit card summary box information.
2012 Goals
2012 will be a year of big changes for me, personally and professionally. I am heading back to school to pursue an MBA. I will be getting married and then I will likely embark on a long-distance marriage. I’ve thought about the things I like to accomplish this year, and I haven’t gotten them all down yet. All I know is that things will be in transition. I am excited about what the year will bring, and I feel very lucky.
Financial
Income: I am setting a goal to make $60,000 gross, including $25,000 in freelance/blog income. Why $25,000? That number is what I expect my annual MBA living expenses to be. When I go to school, obviously I will be giving up my full-time employment and the corresponding paychecks. The prospect of having NOTHING coming is frightening. But
How Much Good Credit Do You Really Need?
American businessman Lee Iacocca took a lot of criticism after his famous quote, “We’ve got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?” Despite public reaction, Iacocca raises a valid point that has been neglected by many: Sometimes it costs too much to get more of a good thing. This same principle applies finance. If you have a credit score of 700, do you really need to go through the trouble to raise it to a perfect 800? We have been told that having a great credit score is akin to finding the Holy Grail, but we’ve got to pause and ask ourselves: How much credit do we need?
Here are a few things to consider when answering this question.
- Credit is the ability to acquire debt
Your credit score is a number that indicates how worthy lenders think you are when you try to borrow money. This mea
FHA loan limits restored to higher levels
While FHA loan limits were lowered in expensive housing markets at the beginning of October, on November 18 Congress voted to restore higher loan limits. In areas with lower cost housing, this move will not have an impact, but in places such as New York City, Washington, D.C., Hawaii and San Francisco, buyers and homeowners will be able to use an FHA loan to borrow as much as $729,750. According to The Wall Street Journal, about 600 counties are impacted by this change.
FHA mortgage impact
FHA mortgage loans are insured by the government, allowing lenders protection against borrower defaults. According to Bloomberg, approximately one-third of all mortgages in the U.S.