Money Talk: Options for Building Credit Score
Question: I am selling my car to an old friend with no credit history. (The used car salesman wanted to charge her 6.5 percent interest.) Is there a way that I can report her timely payments to the credit reporting services to help her build her credit? Answer: It’s not really practical for individuals to report payments, since subscribing to credit bureaus is expensive. The rate your friend was quoted actually isn’t bad given her...
Money Talk: The Down Side of Automatic Payments
Question: Since I lost my second job, we have fallen behind on our bills. Although we get paid on Friday, by Monday our checking account is in the red even without buying anything. It’s all going to automatic payments for things like insurance and college savings for our child. I think the bank has a way of processing transactions to maximize our bounce fees. Should we take control and pay manually? Is automatic payment a recipe for...
Money Talk: How to Deal With Collections
Question: I am trying to help my daughter deal with enormous student loans. She is a doctor and very busy and simply cannot deal with the stress of almost $350,000 of education debt. I want to help her refinance, but to get the best rate I would like to help her improve her credit score (even if it is already 712). She had three small debts turned over to a collection agency after a visit to an emergency room a couple of years ago. We...
Money Talk: Electronic Payments Best When Paying IRS
Question: I just received a letter from the IRS informing me that I missed a quarterly tax payment last September with several resulting penalties. I made that payment with a check from a securities trust account that I don’t closely monitor, so I didn’t realize the check hadn’t been cashed. The check was placed in a pre-addressed envelope with the IRS payment notice, stamped and deposited at the post office and has never been seen...
College Grad’s Guide To Managing Money In the Real World
Washington — The inspirational speeches are over. The celebrations have passed. And now, it’s time for the college grads who’ve landed jobs to start working. While their paychecks will likely be the biggest they’ve seen so far, they probably won’t feel big enough to cover the rent, student loan payments and credit card debt they may have amassed as broke college students. There are ways to stretch those meager earnings, though,...
