Quick Look Some loans charge you a penalty to pay off a loan early. Prepayment penalties are only legal on certain types of loans. It’s possible to avoid prepayment penalties. George’s beloved Aunt Azalea just died, leaving him a cash windfall large enough to pay off his house. But his wise friend William warns George … Read more

Americans’ collective credit card debt balance hit $930 billion in Q3 2022. That’s a $43 billion jump from the previous quarter. The average cardholder now has more than $6,000 in credit card debt, closing in on 2019’s all-time high. But our debt burden isn’t equally shared. Most Americans have no credit card debt at all. … Read more

A stop payment order is a request to cancel a check so it can’t be cashed. You might need to stop payment on a check because: You lose a check or your checkbook You suspect a check was stolen You mailed a check to the wrong address You made an error on the check (e.g., … Read more

Your rent is due in a week, and you don’t want to miss the deadline. You want to send the payment now, while it’s still fresh in your mind. But you won’t have the money to cover the payment until closer to the due date. So you put a check in the mail today, but … Read more

eakkarat rangram / Shutterstock.com Mortgage rates soared in October — and buyers promptly disappeared from the housing market, according to newly released findings from Redfin. Pending home sales plunged by 32.1% year over year last month. That is the biggest drop since Redfin began collecting data in 2013. Price cuts and deal cancellations also set … Read more

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RadioPublic | Stitcher | RSS Jeepers creepers, where’d you get those peepers? For many of us, seeing requires glasses or contact lenses. However, these items aren’t covered by most insurance policies — unless you pay extra. So, many of us are stuck paying … Read more

Sebastian Gauert / Shutterstock.com The holidays seem to approach like a giant snowball rolling downhill, gathering speed quickly until they are almost upon us. So it’s easy to make holiday purchases on impulse, snatching up a gift or decorative item without really thinking through it first. Some impulse buys can be huge hits, of course. … Read more

If you have used a popular software program to complete your tax return, it is possible details of your income have been shared with Facebook, according to a new report. The Markup reports that H&R Block, TaxAct and TaxSlayer are among the tax-filing companies that have sent personal and financial information to Facebook, including: Names … Read more

Jaromir Chalabala / Shutterstock.com A user on the social media site Reddit recently started a wide-ranging conversation with the question, “In the United States, what should you never do?” The discussion thread received more than 12,000 comments, including advice helpful for U.S. visitors, and even more users rated it as an interesting conversation. Following are … Read more

With holiday shopping now in full swing, an advocacy group is warning about some toys you should not buy for the youngsters in your life. World Against Toys Causing Harm — better known as W.A.T.C.H. — has released a list of the 10 worst toys of 2022, as well as a comment from the organization … Read more