Credit Access for Stay-at-Home Spouses and Partners Expanded
By Jason Alderman
One of the pitfalls of Congress passing complicated, sweeping legislation is that sometimes provisions designed to protect one group unexpectedly create hardships for others. That’s what happened with 2009′s Credit Card Accountability Responsibility Disclosure (CARD) Act, which was hailed as legislation that would protect consumers from misleading credit practices.
Among other things, the CARD [...]
Leasing a Car on the Cheap
By Jason Alderman
My trusty Volvo wagon served our family well for 13 years, but after 106,000 miles it finally gave up the ghost. My wife just completed graduate school so we weren’t ready to commit to a new car payment. I rented a car at first, but at $500 a month, that soon got old.
Then [...]
Avoiding Hidden Flight, Hotel Fees
By Jason Alderman
The last few years have been tough economically for many people. Unemployment fears combined with plunging home, stock and retirement account values caused many to forgo big vacations – even though stressful times are when we most need to recharge our batteries.
But with the economy turning around, many families are cautiously dipping their [...]
Improving Women’s Financial Literacy, Worldwide
By Jason Alderman
Are the 70 percent of the developing world’s adult population with no formal bank account doomed to a life of economic uncertainty and financial illiteracy? If a woman’s culture dictates that she should always put her family’s financial needs ahead of her own, can she learn to set aside money for her own [...]
Trim Your Wedding Costs
By Jason Alderman
Weddings have always been big business, but I was shocked to see how expensive they’ve become in the 17 years since my wife and I got married. According to the annual Real Weddings Study, the average wedding in the U.S. now costs $28,427, and that doesn’t even count the honeymoon.
Wait, it gets worse.
Among [...]
