Credit
« Previous EntriesDo You Take Advantage of 0% Financing Offers?
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009Here’s today’s Question of the Day:
Do you take advantage of 0% Financing Offers?
I have in the past when I purchased a TV from Best Buy. I had the option of paying full price in cash or finance the product for two years at 0% interest. I had the money available to pay for [...]
Is a 100% Credit Freeze in Our Future?
Thursday, October 23rd, 2008I got this email from a long-time AFM reader earlier this afternoon (modified slightly to protect anonymity):
Through a reliable source, I was told that there is a strong potential for a credit freeze come January 2009. According to this source, absolutely NO loans will be granted…for anything (mortgages, vehicles or otherwise). Although I [...]
Stephen Schwarzman on How We Got Where We Are
Saturday, September 27th, 2008I saw this in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal and thought it worth sharing. It’s Stephen Schwarzman, chairman of Blackstone Group, talking about how we got into this credit crisis ($):
“It’s a perfect storm. It started with Congress encouraging lending to lower-income people. You went from subprime loans being 2% of total loans in 2002 [...]
Is The ‘Standard-of-Living’ Bubble Next?
Saturday, August 23rd, 2008Another reading assignment: The Next Credit Crunch (read it, it’s very interesting). The next bubble according to Geoff Colvin will be a standard-of-living bubble due to a credit card crunch.
…a big crunch is coming - and here’s why. Credit card debt, like mortgage debt, gets bundled, securitized, and sold off by banks. Citigroup, one [...]
I Agree With Bill Fleckenstein (but he still needs a haircut)
Monday, August 11th, 2008Reading Assignment: Crybaby Capitalists Whine for More
I don’t always agree with Bill Fleckenstein, but in this case I do.
Making bad decisions and then asking for government intervention (bailouts) isn’t capitalism!
Credit-Related Q&A and GIVEAWAY
Thursday, July 17th, 2008The other day I received an email from an AFM reader with several questions related to bankruptcy and credit reports. Since credit-related questions are one of my weaker areas, I have made it a habit to send those types of questions to author and MSN Money columnist, Liz Pulliam Weston. She sent me [...]
How Long Will it Take to Improve a FICO Score?
Thursday, May 29th, 2008On Wednesday I received this email from reader, Joshua:
Good Morning,
Thank you for reading my email.
My question regards my credit score. I recently got my credit report and score. My score as of right now is a 577 which as you know wont get me very far. I make decent money now and I am [...]
Follow up to Yesterday’s FICO Question
Wednesday, May 7th, 2008Yesterday’s Question of the Day was about good debt/bad debt and FICO scores. I want to concentrate on the FICO part of the question:
Many FICO scores are based on DTI, or Debt-to-Income ratios. DTI generally doesn’t include debt to own a home, even if the loan was sub-prime. Is this a mistake? Are FICO [...]
What to do (and NOT to do) When Trying to Fix Your Credit Score
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008Today’s Wall Street Journal had an interesting
Warren Buffett Has a FICO Score of 718! Who Cares?
Saturday, March 29th, 2008Website, myFICO, is making a big deal that Warren Buffett’s FICO score is only 718. My question: who cares? Seriously, the guy is worth BILLIONS of dollars. He doesn’t need credit. Can you imagine Buffett getting a subprime mortgage because his credit score is low? LOL!
The article then goes [...]