“What is identity theft?” you might ask. It is defined by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as “fraud committed or attempted using the identifying information of another without lawful authority.” In other words someone steals your personal information like your social security number and tries to pass themselves off as you. Thieves can obtain loans or credit cards, assume your persona and/or commit crimes as if they were you. You may think identity theft only happens on rare occasions or only in movies, but this criminal activity is becoming more and more prominent, prompting intelligent individuals to protect themselves. Read more

Have you seen your credit report recently? Chances are you haven’t. You may not even know the relevance or significance this report has, well here’s to opening your eyes.

Your credit report is your financial history in regards to lending and spending habits. You may not be looking at your credit report but others have and probably will in the near future. You may not know it but everyone from new employers, insurance providers and banks all look at it, and you need to know what they’re looking at! Read more

If you like so many other consumers are trying to eliminate credit card debt, you more than likely have been told to consolidate it. Consolidation is when you combine your debt in a manner that is more affordable and that can reduce the amount of time you are paying it off.

There are two ways to go that follow: transfer debts with higher annual percentage rates (APR) to lower APR cards; transfer your debts to a new zero percent or lower interest card; and combine all your debt with a low rate, simple interest loan. We will only look at the first two options. Read more