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5 Things to Know About the Milestone Credit Card

For the Milestone credit card, a potentially expensive annual fee is just the beginning of its possible costs. Other cards are just as accessible — and much more rewarding.

Smart Money: Student Debt Cancellation at the Supreme Court

Get the rundown on whether debt cancellation is likely to be upheld and when you might have to restart payment on your student loans.

The Best Air Carrier for Your Pet May Be One You Never Heard Of

JSX is a semi-private airline that allows in-cabin pets to fly free if they fit in a carrier. It’s sometimes cheaper than traditional airlines with pet fees.

The Guide to American Airlines Wi-Fi

American Airlines Wi-Fi is speedy and easy to access, but reliable in-flight Wi-Fi doesn’t come free. We’ve got tips to help you get connected and save.

Preapproval vs Prequalify: What’s the Difference?

Has this happened to you? You’re thinking about getting a personal loan but haven’t yet applied. Then you get a letter in the mail: “You’re preapproved or prequalified for a personal loan!” What does that mean? Some lenders use “prequalified” interchangeably with “preapproved,” but they are different. Here, we’ll discuss the distinction, and how to […]

The post Preapproval vs Prequalify: What’s the Difference? appeared first on SoFi.

Best Medicare Advantage Plans in Oregon

Over 900,000 people in Oregon are signed up for Medicare, placing it about in the middle of U.S. states for Medicare beneficiaries. Medicare is the government health care program for…

7 Best Websites for Scholarships

Scholarship search engines can help you locate many scholarship opportunities quickly.

Reader question: Does repaying a loan hurt your credit score?

Last week, on my review of Kristin Wong’s new book Get Money!, a reader named Luke left an interesting comment. Luke wondered:

One thing that I’ve taken to heart is debt reduction. In my case, student loans. I refinanced a while back to get a lower rate and have been paying almost triple the monthly minimum to accelerate payoff. The goal was to finish the loan payments a few months before we buy our first home (which we are currently in the middle of saving for our 20% down).

But I’ve encountered a sort of catch-22. As the individual loans get rolled off when they get paid, it’s been hurting my credit score because my average age of credit is dropping. (I’m 27 years old.) This is exactly what I don’t need before applying for a mortgage.

Economy Is Improving, but Recession Risk, Inflation Still Hover

It seems inflation is, indeed, being tamed. But it’s still uncertain whether the U.S. is in the clear or if a potential downturn is ahead.

How to use credit cards wisely: A definitive guide

It’s back to basics month at Get Rich Slowly! Today, we’re going to take a l-o-n-g look at how to use credit cards wisely. Believe it or not, credit cards can be a useful tool — so long as you don’t fall into debt.

For a long time, I thought credit cards were evil. Starting in college, I abused credit cards. As a result, I ended up deep in debt. Those two decades of debt sucked, and they led me to believe that credit cards were dangerous.

Well, credit cards are dangerous — but they’re not evil. Credit cards are a tool. Like any other tool, credit cards can be used to build or to destroy. Just as you’d treat a chainsaw with respect, you need to be careful with credit to avoid hurting yourself. If you use credit cards wisely, they can actually give you a financial edge!

Because this is a long article, I’ve create a table of contents so that you can jump to the section you need. (Or, you can read the entire thing, of course.)

Table of Contents

  1. How credit cards work
  2. Why use a credit card?
  3. Essential credit card skills
  4. How to use credit cards wisely
  5. How to choose a credit card
  6. How to dispute credit card charges
  7. How to cancel a credit card

Survey of Consumer Finances. The latest study, from 2016, found that:

  • 43.9% of American families have credit card debt, and
  • the average amount owed is $5700.

Clearly, lots of Americans continue to struggle to use credit cards wisely.

That said, not everybody who uses credit cards goes into debt. In fact, the Survey of Consumer Finances shows that over half of Americans use credit cards without going into debt. They treat them as a convenience.

True story: Last year, I went into a bank to apply for a new travel credit card. During the half-hour process, I chatted with the banker. “We banks don’t like people like you,” he told me. “I’m sure you’re a nice guy, but you pay your bill every month. We don’t make any money on you. Fortunately, 90% of people who use credit cards suck with money!” He told me banks are willing to lose money on the handful of folks who use credit cards wisely because they make so much money on the people who abuse them.