Search Credit Card &
Finance Related Topics
 
Home > Experts Blog
About Us
Get the latest credit tips & advice from our hand-picked team of credit experts. Each of them has been in your shoes and can provide you with first hand knowledge on how to take control of your credit.
Archives


Del.icio.us! Del.icio.usDigg! Digg

Most of the information about credit cards is about how you absolutely need to get out of credit card debt before you settle down for retirement.  If you’re not able to do that, at the very least have a plan to control and eliminate that debt, taking into account any wild cards that might occur along the way, such as new medical expenses.  

There are also cases where using a credit card can actually help you prepare for retirement.  On the one hand, using a balance transfer card can help you get out of debt before or during retirement.  But I want to take this a step further and talk about those credit cards that actually contribute to a retirement account.

You could go the indirect route and get yourself a cash back rewards card, and then put those cash rewards into a retirement account.  However, if you do this, you have to make sure if it’s worth your while – does the card have a good APR, low fees?  In some cases, you could help out your debt situation significantly by just putting that cash back right back into the credit card.  Sure, that’s not as fun, or satisfying, but it makes fiscal sense.  

There are also credit cards that deliver funds directly to an IRA account.  Take the Stockback Visa Credit Card from MBNA.  The card takes 1% of your payments and puts it towards the investment of your choice.  Like I said, you could do this anyway with any cash back rewards card, but having it done automatically takes away some of the hassle and ensures the transfer will be done.  Likewise, the NestEggz Platinum Plus MasterCard from MBNA deposits 1% rewards on purchases that can go to a retirement account of your choice.  

The latter gets my vote.  With an APR of 9.9% it’s a good rewards plan with a very competitive APR.  The ideal scenario for using this card is to make purchases every month while paying off the balance in full.  That way you build up rewards points but won’t build up debt.  It’s also good for your credit rating.  If you’re retiring soon and need a new credit card to boost a rating or to provide a new credit source, this card would be a good way to go.  
 

College Grads and the Future

Posted by: Meredith K. | May 08,2008
Del.icio.us! Del.icio.usDigg! Digg

Here’s an interesting piece , which focuses on college grad’s now graduating and what they’ll have to face as they enter the real world.  Issues like negotiating a starting salary and finding a job with health insurance come up – both very important topics.  But then I got to this sentence: “Even though graduates are just getting started in the work world, now is the time to start thinking about retirement.”

It made me pause, and even laugh a little to myself because it is so incredibly unrealistic.  There’s no way you could ask a 22-year-old to start saving for a time when they’re 65 and above.  Then again, the article goes on and talks about how today’s college grads may not be able to rely on social security.  40-50 years from now and the social security system may have all but collapsed.  At the very least, it is going to be in a very different form.  Adding to this, the kids of Boomers now graduating comprise a huge generation that is going to put a huge strain on a system that it already showing signs of weakness.  

So after I scoffed at the prospect of a person in their twenties responsibly saving for retirement, I reflected on what a different climate today’s college grads are facing.  Not to get too doom and gloom, but there are a lot of issues on the horizon: the weakening dollar, global warming, a possible depression.  Just the sheer mention of such things – that they’re even a possibility – should make college students take their financial futures very seriously.  

This isn’t the nineties anymore – the slacker generation.  Back then, you could get away with just getting by.  There’s no nice way to put this, but things are much tougher today.  As a response, today’s college grads need to be tough.  If saving for retirement seems a little far-fetched, at least saving in general is a good idea – for an emergency fund or even to buy a house, because that’s the thing that’s going to come before retirement.  Budgeting, keeping out of debt, and securing good employment may be more important for the younger generation today than any generation in the past.  
 
Del.icio.us! Del.icio.usDigg! Digg

The experts at Experts on Credit have had a great time this year writing about tips you can use to improve your credit in the blogs and elsewhere on the site. On the Credit Tips blog, we’ve written about a variety of topics:

 

“Tips to Help You Stop Living from Paycheck to Paycheck” was a popular series that ran in January. Reverse mortgages, plastic surgery loans and getting ahead of credit card debt were just a few of the topics that spoke to popular credit issues of 2008.

 

Introducing the new credit card reviews and pros and cons sections were exciting additions to the blog. Credit card reviews included a number of specialty credit cards that provide rewards to people who love staying in resorts and hotels. We also reviewed points rewards cards that provided a way to save money on some of the world’s most popular vehicles. 

 

As long as identity thieves continue to come up with ingenious ways to steal identities, identity theft protection tips will continue to show on the Credit Tips blog.

 

If you have ideas for a topic that you’d like to see addressed on the Credit Tips blog, please use the comment form below. 
 
Tags: Credit Tips
Del.icio.us! Del.icio.usDigg! Digg

This year on the Credit nightmares blog, we’ve been exploring what can go wrong with credit and debt.

 

We’ve talked about a number of credit nightmares that pertain to families and homeowners, like rolling over car loans, how to resolve spousal arguments about debt and avoiding travel headaches to make your vacations more fun and less stressful have been among our most popular blog posts. Being unable to afford a house payment and options available to homeowners that are in this situation was another popular topic on the blog.

 

Protecting loved ones from identity theft even after death is a topic that surfaces again and again on the Credit Nightmares blog. Keeping credit cards safe, protecting a business from identity theft and protecting your family after a natural disaster have all been addressed on Experts on Credit. 

 

Using products like a credit monitoring program to protect against identity theft and to improve a credit score have often appeared on the Credit Nightmares blog. Responsible credit card use and introducing college kids to student credit cards are also evergreen favorites of the website.

 

The Credit Nightmares blog also provides up to date information about credit cards in the news. Topics have included credit card companies, popular internet scams and the Federal Reserve’s changing policies.

 

Let us know what you’d like to see on the Credit blog by posting a comment below. 

 

 

 
 
Tags: Credit Nightmares
Related Articles
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next > End >>

Results 1 - 12 of 1207



• Specialty Articles • Credit & Finance Interviews • Recently Searched Credit Card Topics
• Credit Articles • Credit Glossary  
• Finance Articles • Credit Card Offers  
© 2006-2007 ExpertsOnCredit . All Rights Reserved.