Archive for the ‘Finance’ Category

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September 2008 Free Credit Report – Experian

Monday, September 29th, 2008

Wow, I got busy and somehow a whole year has gone by since I last checked on my credit reports. I don’t recommend that. Check yours every 4 months. Hopefully I can get back into the routine. Soon I will be writing about something new and exciting from the credit reporting agencies that should eliminate almost all identity theft if done correctly. It is called Credit Freezes. It isn’t free but it will be well worth it. I’ll keep you informed once I get some free time.

So for those that don’t know, you are entitled by law to a copy of your credit report from each of the 3 credit bureaus once per year. It is a good idea to spread these out and request one report every 4 months. This lets you keep an eye on your credit report throughout the year and makes it more likely that you will quickly notice any inaccuracies or problems with the report.

I just retrieved my credit report from Experian and as I would expect, all is well. Another 4 months (January 2009) and I’ll check with Equifax.

To request your free credit report go to: AnnualCreditReport.com

The credit report is free, but the credit bureaus try and convince you to pay for additional services (credit score, credit monitoring, etc). So be sure to say No to any of these items if you want a truly free credit report.

Now go ahead and pull yours and make sure everything looks ok. Especially with the crazy market conditions we are in, you are going to need some pristine credit going forward, so time to get any incorrect information fixed if you see it.

Here is a link to the Federal Trade Commission’s site regarding your free annual credit report: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/freereports/psa.html

Oh, and remember, even though those commercials on TV with the guys in the band singing songs about how they are in dire situations due to poor credit (singing in a fish restaurant, a basement apartment, etc) are awesomely funny, the site they are representing is not for the free credit report. It is for a pay service. Don’t go to their site. Go to AnnualCreditReport.com. This is the only free site.

Posted in Credit Report, Finance, Privacy | No Comments »

September 2007 Free Credit Report – TransUnion

Monday, September 10th, 2007

Once again I’m late on getting my last credit report for the year writeup but here we go. As many of you may know, you are entitled by law to a copy of your credit report from each of the 3 credit bureaus once per year. It is a good idea to spread these out and request one report every 4 months. This lets you keep an eye on your credit report throughout the year and makes it more likely that you will quickly notice any inaccuracies or problems with the report.

I just retrieved my credit report from TransUnion and all is well. Another 4 months (January 2008) and I’ll check with Experian.

To request your free credit report go to: AnnualCreditReport.com

The credit report is free, but the credit bureaus try and convince you to pay for additional services (credit score, credit monitoring, etc). So be sure to say No to any of these items if you want a truly free credit report. Silly TransUnion has you create a login and then wants you to use it a year later when you come back. Good luck with that. I had to re-authenticate since I had forgotten my username and password.

Now go ahead and pull yours and make sure everything looks ok. It is a sad fact of life that your credit history is extremely important and can open or close many doors based on what information it contains.

And as I always say, if you really want to spice up your love live with your significant other, how about exchanging credit reports with that special someone. Honesty in a long-term relationship is extremely important, and if you can’t be open about your financial standing then you really aren’t sharing everything. Plus, nobody wants to find out a week after the honeymoon that your partner is $100,000 in credit card debt :-)

Also here is a link to the Federal Trade Commission’s site regarding your free annual credit report: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/freereports/psa.html

Posted in Credit Report, Privacy | No Comments »

April 2007 Free Credit Report – Equifax

Tuesday, May 1st, 2007

Belated writeup but here we go. As many of you may know, you are entitled by law to a copy of your credit report from each of the 3 credit bureaus once per year. It is a good idea to spread these out and request one report every 4 months. This lets you keep an eye on your credit report throughout the year and makes it more likely that you will quickly notice any inaccuracies or problems with the report.

I just retrieved my credit report from Equifax and all is well. Another 4 months and I’ll check with TransUnion.

To request your free credit report go to: AnnualCreditReport.com

The credit report is free, but the credit bureaus try and convince you to pay for additional services (credit score, credit monitoring, etc). So be sure to say No to any of these items if you want a truly free credit report.

Now go ahead and pull yours and make sure everything looks ok. It is a sad fact of life that your credit history is extremely important and can open or close many doors based on what information it contains.

And if you really want to spice up your love live with your significant other, how about exchanging credit reports with that special someone. Honesty in a long-term relationship is very important, and if you can’t be open about your financial standing then you really aren’t sharing everything. Plus, nobody wants to find out a week after the honeymoon that your partner is $50,000 in credit card debt :-)

Also here is a link to the Federal Trade Commission’s site regarding your free annual credit report: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/freereports/psa.html

Posted in Credit Report, Privacy | No Comments »

January 2007 Free Credit Report – Experian

Monday, January 15th, 2007

As many of you may know, you are entitled by law to a copy of your credit report from each of the 3 credit bureaus once per year. It is a good idea to spread these out and request one report every 4 months. This lets you keep an eye on your credit report throughout the year and makes it more likely that you will quickly notice any inaccuracies or problems with the report.

I just retrieved my credit report from Experian and all is well. Another 4 months and I’ll check with Equifax.

To request your free credit report go to: AnnualCreditReport.com

The credit report is free, but the credit bureaus try and convince you to pay for additional services (credit score, credit monitoring, etc). So be sure to say No to any of these items if you want a truly free credit report.

Now go ahead and pull yours and make sure everything looks ok. It is a sad fact of life that your credit history is extremely important and can open or close many doors based on what information it contains.

And if you really want to spice up your love live with your significant other, how about exchanging credit reports with that special someone. Honesty in a long-term relationship is very important, and if you can’t be open about your financial standing then you really aren’t sharing everything. Plus, nobody wants to find out a week after the honeymoon that your partner is $50,000 in credit card debt :-)

Update: Here is a link to the Federal Trade Commission’s site regarding your free annual credit report: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/freereports/psa.html

Posted in Credit Report, Privacy | 3 Comments »

High School Graduation Letter To My Cousin

Tuesday, January 9th, 2007

A short while back my cousin graduated from high school and was poised to head off to college at the University of Alabama. I wrote her a graduation letter to try and distill the things I thought she needed to know (and throw in a little financial education as well). Thought I would share it with my loyal readers.

—————————————–BEGIN LETTER—————————————–
Dear Britt,

Sorry for the delay, but wanted to wish you a happy graduation. I was out of town and missed your actual graduation day but maybe I’ll catch the next one (probably not though considering I didn’t attend either of my college graduations :-) ).

Definitely a big step for you and I’m sure there are great things in store at college. If I can offer any collegiate advice based on the fact that you had a similar experience to me in high school (not much studying required, kind of breezed through) then here it is:

  • Don’t be afraid to drop a class (some teachers seem to have some chip on their shoulders and relish the fact that students will not succeed). If it isn’t looking good and the drop date is looming, you may want to eject.
  • Learn study habits early. I never had to do much in high school since most things came naturally, but college is an entirely different story. I’m a notorious procrastinator so take it from me, don’t wait till the last minute. One can’t memorize 300 pages of material in one night (though I have tried before).
  • Listen to your Dad. He actually has some pretty good ideas on the politics of college. I probably should have listened and not been a Chemistry major initially but hey, it all works out in the end. I’ll end up with a Ph.D. not an M.D. but I’m happy with the results.

Now you may notice the enclosed check has an odd amount. I wanted to give you Doug’s 20-second introduction to economics in the form of a graduation gift. When your brother graduated two years ago, I sent him $200. Now there is an economic concept at play called Inflation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflation) that you may hear about in the news. It basically means money doesn’t have the same buying power as the years go by. Just ask your grandpa how much bread cost when he was a kid. Probably a nickel, now it is $2. That is inflation. The value of money degrades over time, so you need more of it to buy the same things.

So, that is where your gift comes in. The rate of inflation is measured annually, and here is what it was for the past two years (taken from http://minneapolisfed.org/Research/data/us/calc/hist1913.cfm).

Year Inflation Rate
2004 2.7%
2005 3.4%

So if we crunch the numbers, the $200 given to Brad in 2004 would be equivalent in buying power to $205.40 in 2005 ($200 * 1.027). For 2006 the same buying power that $205.40 had in 2005 would be $212.38 ($205.40 * 1.034). So $200 in 2004 money = $212.38 in 2006 money.

And thus while it looks like I gave you more than Brad, alas it really is the same in terms of buying power. Now all of your other relatives that wanted to be fair and gave you the same amount as Brad….they really gave you 6.19% less than Brad. What a bummer, and they said they loved you ?

OK, enough teaching. Enjoy, don’t spend it all in one place, study hard, eat well, get lots of sleep, wash your hands frequently, always floss, don’t kiss on the first date, try and observe all posted speed limits, and remember to always have fun and try to look on the bright side of life.

Love
Cousin Doug
—————————————–END LETTER—————————————–

Posted in Finance, Misc | No Comments »

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