Michael Finney's Consumer Blog

Family savings shifting

Families with no savings at all are growing in number while those families with $50,000 and more grows too.  A new study from the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan shows that in 2009 18.5% of families had no savings.  In 2011 that number jumped to 23.4%.  At the same time those families with savings of $50,000 or more -the highest category- increased from 11.8% to 14.6%. The rich get richer. the middle class get middle classier, while working families fall backwards.  

 

Has your Best Buy account been hacked?

Our friends over at The Consumerist are asking this question: Has your Best Buy account been hacked? "Have phantom orders been placed using your Best Buy website account that you had nothing to do with? Since the wee hours of this morning, we've heard from two separate readers who write that their accounts and credit cards were used to order downloadable content that was delivered to another person's email address."

Details --> http://consumerist.com/2012/05/has-your-best-buy-account-been-hacked.html

 

Are you confused about your credit score?

It used to be easy. There was one credit score. It was a number between 300 and 850; the higher the better. No more. Now there are more than a thousand credit scoring equations. Often when you are offered a credit score you are getting one that isn’t much used. The gold standard for credit scores is still the FICO score.  That’s the one that runs between 300 and 850. To see your score you must log on and pay at www.myfico.com. The site also gives you a ton of information on improving your score. Oh, one more thing: Consumer groups are pushing congress to make free credit scores available to consumers.

 

Should you hire a hot real estate agent?

Should you hire a Real Estate agent because she is hot? New research shows attractive female agents get more money for houses. 

Discounts hard to come by on car lots

Vehicles are fetching record average prices of $30,748, up 6.9 percent from a year ago, according to the Detroit Free Press. Part of that increase is tied to consumers piling on the accessories, but there's more to it than that.  Car manufacturers are making fewer cars and there are fewer dealerships selling them. Welcome to the new world where car buyers are in a seller’s market. A couple years back you could wander into a car dealer and get a great deal, now you must do your research.

Want to know what your timeshare is worth?

The Timeshare User Group is a go-to place for those who want to sell, buy or rent a timeshare. If you think your Timeshare is worth big bucks, don't go here, it will probably bum you out. But if you want real information, log on. 

What is your risk of being audited?

You paid your taxes on time, now what is your risk of being audited? Kiplinger.com has put together a calculator using 2011 government figures. It is a three step process: 1) Punch in your numbers 2) See the results 3) Hold your breath.

How the new federal health care law helps you!

Here’s a calculator that shows exactly how the new federal health care law helps you. Put in your family’s ‘particulars’ and get a run down on the effect of the new law on your family.  

Keep your data plan under control

Mobile providers have been ordered by the government to start warning their customers that they are about to go over their data plan limits. The order will save consumers millions! However, the data overage warnings don't have to be fully activated for months. So if you own an iPad or iPhone here's how to save right now: download DataMan. It is a free app that keeps track, in real time, of your data usage. It doesn't stop you from going over your prepaid limit but it does let you know how much you are using. For $4 dollars DataMan Pro tells you which apps are eating up all that data and much more. There similar apps available for Android devices, so don't overspend every month on data, instead keep track.

All lawyers are not created equal

All lawyers are not created equal and here's your proof. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that rich attorneys are getting richer and poor(er) ones are getting poor(er). The paper, citing recent studies, says, "Partners in the top 25% of hourly billers boosted their average price to $873 an hour last year... Partners in the bottom 25% charged an average of $204 last year, up just 1.3%"