This Week in Your Wallet: December 13, 2011
Remember a few months back, when Bank of America tried to institute a $5 debit card fee and consumers lashed out in anger? Many threatened to leave the world of big banking and head to a smaller credit union. Now the question is: Are they happy there? Chances are pretty good they are.
According to the latest release of the American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), credit unions received the highest score ever for one of the 47 industries the index studies.
As I’ve said before, I think credit unions are great. But if you’re thinking of jumping, you have to make sure they fit you. Here are some questions to ask yourself in order to figure it out.
- How often do I visit an ATM? If the answer is “daily” or “weekly,” you might be better off staying with a larger bank that keeps ATMs on every other corner. Credit unions can have limited ATM locations which can mean higher fees overall when you use an out-of-network ATM.
- Do I meet the credit union membership requirements? Credit unions are smaller because they are required by law to restrict their membership base. Therefore, many have a set of eligibility requirements — residence, non-profit membership, etc. — you have to meet. To find a credit union that you can join go to creditunion.coop.
- Am I willing to transfer all my online payments? If you have twelve or fifteen bills that you pay through online banking each month, it will be an administrative hassle to cancel everything and set them up all over again with a credit union. As I’ve written before, making the switch will take up to three months — this time-frame helps you catch any quarterly payments you set to “auto-pay” and have since forgotten about.
For more information on the results of the ACSI survey, you can visit their website at theacsi.org. Now here’s a look at the other headlines of the week:
Insurers and credit reports get personal
How much do you reveal about yourself online? Do you “like” fast food chains or the neighborhood candy store on Facebook? Did you post bungee-jumping pictures from last summer’s exotic vacation? Your real friends might appreciate the peek into your life, but they’re not the only ones who are “Facebook stalking.”
As I learned from this new Daily Finance article, insurance companies are already surfing the web to learn more about you. Now they’re looking to take this a step farther and give you something called a social networking score. This isn’t the second coming of Klout, though. Insurers say it’s just another way to do their due diligence when it comes to risk exposure, but this means that one too many tweets about your love for chocolate chip cookies could give pause to a health underwriter. It also means that pictures of you dancing shortly after you’ve filed a claim for, say, a back injury could really bite you in the butt.
The intrusion of privacy doesn’t end there. According to my sources over at LowCards.com, a credit agency called CoreLogic will soon provide credit files that go beyond your credit history. They will include property tax liens, whether or not you’re on top of your homeowner’s association dues and even payment history on utility and cell phone bills. The data will be available in March for mortgage and home equity lenders, but Bill Hardekopf, CEO of LowCards.com, says that this strategy could be developed for other types of credit, too.
The lesson here? Be vigilant – in what you put online and what you might inadvertently put on your credit report. Put reminders in your calendar so you don’t just pay bills on time, but early. And be honest, too. If there is a black mark somewhere on your record, lying about it (to a creditor or insurer) will only make you look worse.
Another reason to go easy on the eggnog
Tis the season… for office holiday parties, that is. I just attended a Today show party last week, and it was a great chance to catch up with some colleagues I don’t see on a regular basis. Everything went smoothly for us, but this Wall Street Journal article reminded me of some classic office fa-la-la-la-la faux pas. Among them: Don’t treat the open bar the same way you would the one at a best friend’s wedding, and don’t spend the whole time glued to your iPhone. Chat with clients or supervisors, and after 30 seconds of shop-talk, be prepared to switch to something a little more “fun.” (Asking about holiday or vacation plans is usually a safe topic.) If you’re at a friend or spouse’s office party, it’s fine to use the opportunity to job search and network, but this isn’t the time to whip out your resume. Ask for a business card and gauge interest in a follow-up conversation.
A quick thank you…
I want to thank everyone who submitted emails and questions after last week’s newsletter went out. I’ve read every single email, and I hope to be able to answer your questions in the coming year. In the meantime, I have two resources that might help tide you over. The first is savvymoney.com. It’s a brand new site I’m involved in, and it gives you a free, personalized debt-payoff plan. I’m also posting articles to the site — we’re talking about everything from Home Equity Lines of Credit, to how to refinance your car loan, how to set a budget, how to pay off debt, and much much more. You can peruse our SavvyMoney archive here — I think many of you will find the answers you’ve been looking for in these articles.
For instance: One of you asked for a simple way to pay for your daughter’s college education. I’m assuming this means you wanted some info on the ins and outs of what types of loans you can take out. I address this issue — plus the best student loan payoff plan — in this article. And a couple of you asked about improving your credit score, which I address here.
The second resource is the personal finance bootcamp I created with Learnvest. This, too, is completely free. Over the course of ten days, you will learn how to track your spending, prioritize that spending, and allocate funds to where you need them most. You can sign up for the bootcamp here.
Have a great week!
Jean
