Bank of America is testing a “Mortgage to Lease” pilot program in Arizona, Nevada and New York.  The program will make it possible for an initial 1,000 homeowners at considerable risk for foreclosure to remain in their homes as a tenant for up to three years. The

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Just as travelers would do when traveling to any country, cardholders should always contact their card issuer when they are visiting a foreign country. Be sure to notify the bank of all possible destinations on your itinerary, even if they are merely the site of a connecting flight. This will prevent hassles that often come when credit card companies believe a card is being used fraudulently.Next, investigate the use of credit cards at your destination. While merchants at some seemingly remote countries commonly accept credit cards, other countries lack much of the infrastructure to do so. For example, on a recent trip to Kenya, I discovered that credit cards were widely accepted at remote safari camps, while in neighboring Uganda, cash was necessary for transactions at most accommodations outside of the capital city.

Beyond credit cards, ATM cards are commonly used to access cash throughout the developing world.

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Four Fraud Trends

The study found four overall fraud trends:

1. Identity fraud incidents increased while amount stolen remained steady. Identity fraud increased by 13 percent or 1.4 million adults in 2011 compared to 2010.  Javelin defined identity fraud “as the unauthorized use of another persons personal information to achieve illicit financial gain”.  Surprisingly, the total amount lost did not change; consumer out-of-pocket costs have decreased by 44 percent since 2004.

2. Social behaviors put consumers at risk.  LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter and Facebook users had the highest incidence of fraud.  They shared more personal information: 68 percent of people with public social media profiles shared their birthday information (45 percent shared month, date and year); 63 percent shared their high school name; 18 percent shared their phone number; and 12 percent shared their pets name. These are examples of personal information a company would use to verify your identity.

3. Smartph

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Dear Cashing In, I’m looking for a new rewards card and I like one that has a $95 annual fee, but that fee is just scares me. I spend maybe $700 or $800 per month on my cards and I travel a little bit, so I’ve got a few miles built up, but do you think that a $95 annual fee is a good fit for me? — Paul

Dear Paul, If you’re averaging $750 per month in charges on your cards, I don’t blame you for being leery about a $95 annual fee. Your decision should depend on how much you travel — specifically, how much you use that credit card for travel.

Measuring the worth of an annual fee comes down to how much reward the card buys you. If you’re contemplating the Gold Delta SkyMiles card from American Express or the United MileagePlus Explorer card from Chase, both of which charge the $95 annual fee you mentioned, you’ll get one mile per dollar spent, which for you will amount to about 9,000 miles per year ($750/month x 12 months = $9,000 or 9,000 miles).

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First of all, I’m not an economist.  Having said that, I’m also not a rancher but I think I can recognize the, shall we say, residue of cattle.  With that mind set let’s take a look at trickle-down economics.  Apparently the idea is if things are good for rich people things will eventually get better for the rest of us.  Really?

It’s generally conceded that while things have been tougher for the middle class and poor during the last few years things have been outstanding for the rich.  Where’s the trickle?  Proponents of trickle-down economics will say that “job creators” need financial certainty in the form of low taxes. If that’s the case why were there more jobs when tax rates were higher?  Why are the “job creators” taking a Sabbath with lower tax rates in place?

In 1963 John F. Kennedy used the phrase, “A

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British holidaymakers are being ‘ripped off’ by huge bank charges when using debit cards abroad, says new research.

Consumer watchdog Which? has revealed that it can cost up to £2.51 to withdraw 20 euros (£16.92) at an ATM if you were a Lloyds customer. Meanwhile, buying a bottle of wine for £5 could cost up to £1.64 – that’s if you use a Halifax card, which charges 30% more than some other high street banks claims AOL money. At the other end of the spectrum was N&P building society where investigators found that account holders are not charged any fees for overseas use, be it a card transaction or a cash withdrawal, and so customers can use their cards abroad as they would expect to use them in the UK.

The consumer group found that extra fees charged by some banks can make card purchases very expensive. For example, ten transactions of £50 made with a Halifax debit card would cost the card holder £28.75, while the same ten transactions made with N&P would be free. For t Read more…