Ken Clark

Some of you may have seen the new credit cards many companies are offering that provide “financial” rewards instead of the standard airline mileage or cash back. While I’m not a huge fan of these, they’re definitely catching the eye of consumers.

Here’s a special report (featuring me, among others) on KDAF TV news in Dallas on a few of the hot cards right now.

Enjoy!

Here’s an article that ran in the La Opinion newspaper about the psychological effects of the financial crisis on families. The writer, Yolanda Arenales, was kind enough to include a few of my opinions in the article.

Although I can’t read it (my Spanish is pretty shoddy), I’m pretty flattered.

Read the entire article here.

Tamara Holmes just published an article looking at the growing trend among credit card issuers of offering rewards programs focused on paying off debt, saving for retirement, saving for your kids’ college, etc. It’s quite a shift from the old days of mileage programs.

Many thanks to Tamara for including me as an expert in the article!

Check it out:
Card Issuers Offer Rewards to Build Savings and Payoff Debt - CreditCards.com

If you’ve been reading my stuff for long, you know that I think Tax Refund Anticipation Loans (RAL’s) are a pretty bad deal for 99% of folks.

Lauren Garrison at the New Haven Register newspaper just did a great article on the perils of these short-term loans and was kind enough to include my less-than-rosy opinion in the article.

Check it out when you get a chance!

“Experts Warn of Perils From Tax Refund Loans” - The New Haven Register

With more people than ever scrambling to get out of debt, the topic of “debt settlement” has become a hot one. Part of the rise in interest has been fueled by the recent flurry of commercials from companies offering to settle your debts for pennies on the dollar.

Yet, debt settlement is one of those things I feel like I’m constantly encouraging people to think very carefully about. Not so much because it’s not a good idea in principle, but because the credit counselors, collection agencies, and creditors often go back on their promises or include fine print that ends up costing you way more than you thought.

Consider the following story just sent to me by a member of my Getting Out of Debt MySpace group:

“I tried to settle with the largest credit card company I had. They agreed to an amount of around $1,800 which I came up with, except $180.

But they wouldn’t take a check or money order. They asked for my checking account info (which I gave to them) to do an electronic draft… that is when everything went horribly wrong.

Because I didn’t come up with the entire amount they decided not to settle, but didn’t tell me about it until afterwards. Nonetheless, they used my information to take THE ENTIRE AMOUNT out of my checking account. They took just shy of two entire paychecks which threw me grossly into overdraft and gave me yet another debt to pay.

A friend has referred me to an attorney and he advised that I now file bankruptcy…”

As I’ve mentioned a number of times in The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Getting Out of Debt, debt settlement rarely works as cleanly as the commercials portray. Be sure to do your homework, read the fine print, and consider every other option before you make a commitment. 

If you are going to settle, send them a certified check or money order. Remember, even your personal checks have account information on them that can be exploited by unscrupulous debt collectors.

-Ken Clark, CFP

Just in time for your New Year’s resolutions… Great article by Heather Larson on “Making Your Financial Resolutions Stick,” featuring yours truly.

Enjoy!

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/pf/20090101-simplify-New-Year’s-resolutions-a1.asp?prodtype=pfin

If you have a Twitter account and would like to receive personal finance tips and tricks, all you’ve got to do is add me! 

My Twitter account is @KenClarkCFP.

For those of you just tuning in, my first full-length book hits all the major bookstores in just over a month (Feb. 3, 2009). 

The list price for The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Getting Out of Debt is $16.95, but you can get it right now on Amazon.com for just $11.53.

 Click here or on the image below to be taken straight to my Amazon page. Thanks!

 

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I just posted a new overview of Perkins Loans over on About.com… Click here to check it out! Thanks!-KenÂ

I just posted a new article on my About.com site giving an overview of PLUS Loans.

Click here to read it.

-Ken