President Obama Tackles Credit-Card Fees

By AMY SCHATZ

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama will soon turn his attention to high credit-card rates, giving a potential boost to congressional efforts to put limits on the industry.

The president is "going to be very focused, in a very near term, on a whole set of issues having to do with credit-card abuses," White House economic adviser Larry Summers said on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday. He said abuses include charging consumers "extraordinarily high rates that they wouldn't have paid if they knew what they were getting themselves into."

Mr. Summers is scheduled to meet with the heads of several of the largest U.S. credit-card issuers at the White House on Thursday.

Democratic lawmakers have already begun advancing legislation to curb certain credit-card fees and other practices. It is unclear whether, or how, the White House's efforts might differ from the measures being pushed by Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York and Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki on Sunday declined to say what specific measures the administration might take. "Addressing abuse in the credit-card industry and standing up for consumers is a priority for the president and his economic team, and we look forward to working with Congress on these issues," she said.

Banks have come under increasing pressure over raising their credit-card rates in recent weeks. Consumer groups are particularly critical of those that raised rates on some existing card holders even as the banks received federal bailout funds. Banks have said credit-market conditions and changes in borrowers' credit scores necessitated the increases.

Consumer advocates want legislation that would limit rate increases on existing balances and require card companies to provide more information on their rates.

In December, the Federal Reserve finalized new rules that limit some credit-card rate increases. Those rules don't take effect until July 2010, however. Legislation pending in Congress would accelerate implementation of the new restrictions.

The banking industry has said the White House and Congress should wait for the Fed's new rules to take effect before taking any additional action.

"The [banking] industry understands the concerns about credit cards, but the administration should fully recognize the impact of the Federal Reserve Board regulation, which is one of the strongest consumer- protection regulations ever adopted," Edward Yingling, president of the American Bankers Association, the banking industry's lobbying group, said Sunday.

"As we go forward we need to be careful about piling on rules that very much may have the impact of restraining the availability of credit," he said.

I Missed the April 15 Tax Deadline. Now What?

You are subject to a late-filing penalty, but since the penalty is based on any unpaid tax at the due date, if your return shows that you will be getting a refund, there would be no penalty. For this purpose, the stimulus refunds do not count.

If your return shows that you still owe taxes, you may be subject to a penalty of 5 percent of the unpaid amount for each month, or part of a month, that your return is late, but not to exceed 25 percent. So be sure to file your return by May 15.

The late-filing penalty may not be imposed if you can show that your failure to file on time was due to a reasonable cause and not willful neglect. If you still owe taxes with your return, enclose a letter explaining your circumstances and asking forgiveness from the late-filing penalty.

Debt Consolidation

Financial Freedom
It's the American way—charge now, pay later. We are endowed with certain inalienable rights—among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. This translates into charge, charge, charge! With this “right” comes a certain amount of cockiness—especially among the young—that credit and charging is not a privilege, but an absolute entitlement.

Somewhere, something goes wrong with the American psyche—the average American is $25,000 in debt—and soon this “entitlement” becomes a handicap bringing about credit card abuse. Knee deep in debt, unable to maintain even minimum monthly payments, the philosophy continues with, “Oh, well! They can’t get blood from a stone.”

“They” are the credit lenders who have graciously empowered you with a product (department stores) or service (school tuition, rent, utilities etc.) and extended these to you immediately in return for your promise to pay them back in the near future (usually in 30 days).

Extending credit (banks, credit card companies, mail-order catalogs) is a dollar amount advance which comes with interest attached to the original amount granted. For example, paying the minimum each month on an advance or credit of $1,200 soon turns into $1,404 within a year with interest. If you miss paying a month, the interest compounds and before you know it, you’re drowning in debt.

As quickly as you became king of the hill, you’re suddenly a fugitive from collection agencies— not opening mail except from family and friends, screening your calls and quite often even disguising your voice. From the dizzying heights of charge, charge, charge, the tumble from the top finds you on the bottom of the bills, bills, bills heap.

There is a way to get out from under the heap with debt consolidation. Debt consolidation combines all of your unsecured monthly bills—credit cards, rent, telephone and utility bills, federal and state income taxes, property taxes, fuel bills, tuition, alimony and child support—into one lower monthly payment at a lowered interest rate.

Credit Card Debt

Credit cards, we can't live with them and we can't live without them. For most of us thats how it seems. You're going through the line at the grocery store and see the person in front using a Visa, the person behind has their Master Card ready and you are going to use cash. Makes you feel out of place doesn't it. When was the last time you paid cash for gas? For a lot of us it's been a long time. The pressure to acquire and use credit cards is very intense. For sure Visa and Master Card use some of the slickest advertising to be found. The question is do you pay the entire balance off each month and almost never pay any interest? If you have the ability to do so and do it, good for you! By the way, credit card companies really don't care for customers who pay everything off on time, or in some cases, ahead of time. This is, why lending institutions are moving away from grace periods, to make sure everyone pays. Grace periods used to be a full month, over time thats been cut to around 20 days. Now some credit cards have no grace periods at all and more lenders are going that way.

Federal Reserve reports America's consumer debt has topped $2 trillion. Consumer debt is primarily for purchases of goods and services on which interest payments are not deductible, unlike the interest on mortgage payments.

If you are one of millions who does not pay off all your debt each time a credit card statement comes in don't feel bad, you are not alone. Then information on this page is intended to provide a little insight on credit card math and highlight some of the terms and conditions listed on your card holder agreement, usually found in very small print. We'll talk about the rules that can come back to haunt you. Credit cards are useful and in many cases necessary, but if one is not knowledgeable in the ways and means of credit card debt, life can be very difficult. It is very important to have a healthy respect and a little fear when using credit cards. When lending institutions play hardball they get the gloves and you don't. Not really much fun.

$8000 1st time homebuyer credit

As all this legislation can be overwhelming to weed through, here is a list of FAQ’s to help clarify this Home buyer tax credit:

What is the $8000 Tax Credit for 2009? It is available for first-time homebuyers for the purchase of a principle residence between January 1, 2009 and December 1, 2009. Any home purchased for $80,000 or more will qualify for the full amount, and homes less than this value will be eligible for 10% of the purchase price.

Who is Eligible? Any first-time homebuyer, which is defined as a buyer who has had no ownership interest in a home for the past three years from the date of the 2009 purchase.

Are There any Other Restrictions? There is also a limit on the amount income that a purchaser claims in the tax year that the credit is applied for. Single (or Head of Household) filers are eligible if their income is less than $75,000; Married couples filing jointly must not exceed $150,000.

Explain how the Tax Credit Works. A tax credit directly reduces your income tax liability dollar-for-dollar. Thus, at the end of the year when you complete your income tax return and figure out your total tax owed, you will apply this tax credit to reduce the total tax bill.

What if Your Tax Liability is less than the Credit Due? You will be eligible for “refundable” credit- the IRS will provide a check to the taxpayer for the difference. Sweet!

Are there any Financing Requirements or Restrictions? No, the majority of financing arrangements are acceptable and will not affect eligibility for the tax credit.

How does an Individual Apply for the Credit? All eligible purchasers simply claim the credit on their IRS Form 1040 tax return. The credit will be reflected using a new Form 5405, which like all the forms and publications are available at www.irs.gov.

Get Coupons off ebay

Yeah, yeah, another article about coupons. But really, this one is unique! I recently ran across an article on buying coupons through eBay. I had no idea this kind of thing went on, but why not? There aren’t many things that can’t be bought or sold on eBay and I had some fun checking out the ebay coupon market for myself.

eBay can be a great source for multiple and/or high-value coupons if you know what to look for. The “cost” of the auction is for compensating the clipper for their time clipping, for one can’t really buy a coupon - they are offered for free by grocery stores or manufacturers. Here are some tips the article suggests in finding the best clipper for my money, along with some of my own:

1. Be as specific in your search as possible. I entered the search terms “Coffee coupons” into ebay and received the following listings as results: Coupons for free Starbucks drinks and $2 off on “buy 2 bags of a particular brand of coffee”. This may not help you if you are only looking to save on a particular coffee brand purchased at grocery stores. Adding more terms like “Folgers” to your initial search of “Coffee Coupons” may help refine your search.
2. Shipping should always be the cost of a first class stamp (or less!) Many eBayers make their money off of shipping charges, so don’t get caught up in this trap. I mean, how much do those coupons actually weigh?
3. Don’t pay for what you don’t want. Since many people sell packages of coupons, you won’t be able to totally avoid receiving coupons that you might not be interested in. Bid only on the value of the coupons you want within a coupon package. For instance, if you want diaper coupons, bid what you think the diaper coupons alone are worth in a package of coupons. The rest is gravy.
4. Don’t buy internet-printed coupons you could find on your own. This one is pretty obvious, right? Check out the most common internet coupon sites and see what you can get for free before laying down cash for the same coupons.
5. Know what you are bidding on! I did a general search on “grocery store coupons” and looked at some of the results. In some cases, the listings did not even include a description of the type of coupons or even the types of products, just the expiration dates.
6. Watch Out for Coupon Clipping Services Many of the results I received back in my search results for “Coffee Coupons”, were not actual coupons, but people offering to look out for and clip coupons for you and send them to you. I would be a little leery of these listings.
7. Pay attention to expiration dates. This one should be obvious, but in your “excitement” (ok, that may be too strong a word) you might forget. We’re just providing you with a complete checklist.
8. Do the math to see if purchasing a coupon makes sense. This one is also kinda obvious, if a coupon is only worth a dollar discount at the store, don’t pay 99 cents plus shipping on it. You’re going to lose money. Read as much of the fine print on a coupon as you can. Do you need to buy 2 of something to get a discount?