An investigation is underway in New York that could give consumers more confidence in the way their credit card data is handled when they make online purchases.

The state’s attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, has announced an investigation into 22 major online companies that he accuses of helping to deceive customers into fee-based membership programs that place monthly fees on their credit cards for little in return. In many cases, these online vendors actually shared their customers’ credit card data with the marketing companies in question.

Previous federal data has found that millions of consumers have been affected by these monthly charges, which often show up mysteriously on their credit card statements under the guise of “rewards programs,” discounts and other such things. Read all post…

RAC took more than half a million calls and handled 300,000 call-outs during the recent cold snap.

London (PRWeb UK / PRWEB) 30 January 2010 — London taxi driver, Michael Walker, was going nowhere fast when his cab got stuck on an icy side road earlier this month.

And to make matters worse, he was forced to stay put with his foot down hard on the brake to stop the taxi colliding with two parked cars.

Enter RAC, which – within fifteen minutes – fielded a patrol to help the stranded driver. With a second RAC patrol arriving to provide extra assistance, the patrolmen used a blow-torch, de-icer and club hammer to free the vehicle.

The two patrolmen then pushed the taxi about 50 metres in icy conditions before Mr Walker could engage the accelerator. <

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As a landlord, there are some advantages to qualifying for Section 8 Voucher holders. First of all, if you do not already know, then you should be aware that Section 8 Voucher holders find their own rental housing, using the vouchers they receive from their housing agency as rent assistance.

If you would like to rent to Section 8 Voucher holders, the first step to take is to get in touch with the Housing Authority in your area. You should let them know that your property is being made available, and you should also state in your advertising that you welcome Section 8 Voucher holders. It will be the decision of the voucher holder whether he/she rents your property. Read all post…

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Running a small business has its peaks and valleys. Sometimes you’re raking in the dough and other times you are not even able to pay the bills. What is important, however, is to have employee health insurance plans for you and your employees. You will find a plethora of small company health insurance plans to go around.

Choosing the small business health insurance policy may sometimes be difficult. Getting affordable coverage is a crucial thing for any owner to do. Should you get the least expensive protection, chances are you are going to regret it in the long run. If you invest the most protection, chances are you are going to be penniless. I

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Consumers  paying credit card debt continue to face obstacles to becoming debt free. It’s important to open and read all correspondence from credit card companies to keep up with their efforts to confuse and keep you in debt. Legislation governing credit card practices becomes effective in February, but it doesn’t provide consumers with all of the protections needed to prevent problems with credit card debt.

Debt Management: New Law Doesn’t Cover Everything

Here’s what the law will do:

• Retroactive rate hikes prohibited: This means that higher interest rates cannot be applied to balances incurred before the interest rate change becomes effective.
• Statements must be mailed a minimum of 21 days before payment due dates: Consumers tend to budget for paying bills on a monthly basis; sending statements a few days before payment due dates can cause late payments and additional fees. You can a

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Are you new to the world of credit cards and have always wondered how exactly do they work? Well as you know there are many types of credit cards in many different categories out there and you have possibly also heard of the brand names like Visa and Mastercard.

A standard credit card, the most common credit card out there, allows you a certain credit limit; if your credit limit is reached you can only renew this limit once you have paid your minimum payment allowed for your credit card. Minimum payments need to be up to date to avoid any late-payment penalties.

Another type of credit card is ‘secured’ or ‘unsecured’ credit cards. Secured credit cards are cards that are secured by you having to pay the bank a deposit. If you

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Phew! Thank heavens the iPad is coming. Solving the economic crisis should be a breeze — it has an app for that.

Apple ‘s new all-singing, all-dancing hand-held computer is the talk of the moment. Even thousands of miles away in London, when I staggered off the redeye Thursday morning, the front pages showed a gaunt but grinning Steve Jobs clasping his latest creation.

But if we can hack our way through the hype, what are the financial implications of this latest techno marvel — for consumers and for investors?

Look out: The iPad may cost you around $1,000 after all.

Yes, the headlines note the prices will start at the low, low level of $499. Mr. Jobs on Wednesday even mocked those who had predicted prices nearly twice as high. But

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Since I am expanding my portfolio to beyond just IRAs and 401ks, I will need to move my more tax-inefficient investments like bonds into those tax-deferred accounts. This way, I’ll put more of my stocks in a plain taxable account which is taxed at the more favorable long-term capital gains rates.

Fidelity is my Solo 401k provider, so I was looking through their bond offerings. Their only bond index funds are the Fidelity U.S. Bond Index Fund (FBIDX) and essentially a US Treasury bond index fund with different maturity lengths. Looking at FBIDX, its benchmark is the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. This index covers the all US bonds on the market that are investment grade and taxable, including Treasuries, corporate bonds, and mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities.

This is basically the same benchmark index as the Vanguard Total Bond Market Index fund (VBMFX), which follows the Barclays Capital U.S. A

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