November 2010 Archives

Less than a month after its debut, the Kardashian Kard may be kaput. Kanned, Kanceled. Klipped. Kremated.

The prepaid debit card featured high upfront fees ($59.95 for six months or $99.95 for a year-long membership) and was heavily marketed to teens and young professionals. Consumer groups warned teens, their parents and young adults not to be swayed by the card's hip promoters, celebrity sisters Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian.

Consumers Union, the nonprofit owners of Consumer Reports magazine, even started a campaign asking consumers to sign e-cards urging the Kardashians to take their names off the prepaid card.

It looks like they've done just that.

If you live in America, you probably stuffed yourself silly yesterday with turkey and pie. Perhaps you're even still digesting it. Did you also take some time to think about what you are Thankful for?

Some people are grateful for today -- Black Friday. Besides being the relaxing day after Thanksgiving, it is also the day where merchants across the country offer blowout sales that generate enough revenue to put their red (losing money) numbers into black (profitable). It's an amazing opportunity to snag deals on holiday gifts, but it also involves crowds, long lines, and in the worst cases, stampedes. If you have chosen to partake in the madness, I wish you the best of luck! Once you're done shopping, I hope you'll take some time to read my roundup of the best personal finance blog posts from the past week.

Come Jan. 1, a new provision in the federal government's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will prohibit the purchase of over-the-counter (OTCs) medications from HSAs, FSAs, and similar accounts unless you have a doctor's prescription.

So that means paying for those remedies for tummy troubles and throbbing heads from your HSA or FSA will be off-limits. Your attempt to purchase the products with your HSA or FSA debit card might be blocked, or if the transaction does go through, you might need another stiff drink when you see the stiff penalty you might incur.

But last week, a consortium of pharmacists and grocers asked that the rule be rescinded.

Our blog about the potential pitfalls of the new Kardashian Kard prepaid card was selected for this week's Carnival of Personal Finance.

Hosted by Sweating The Big Stuff, the 284th edition of the personal finance carnival featured a Thanksgiving theme.Categories included The Turkey, Football, Family, Shopping and the Wishbone.

The Kardashian blog reports the growing concerns, expressed by Consumers Union and others, about the prepaid card. Critics say they worry that impressionable young people will sign up for the card, which is marketed by celebrity sisters Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian to teens and young professionals.

Newsweek writer Jessica Bennett wrote a piece called "What the Internet Knows About You," which reveals that there are companies that aggregate information about you from all over the Web. This information can be used to determine whether a person is employable, eligible for health insurance or credit -- and even to rate a person's sex appeal.

Bennett had one such company, ReputationDefender, investigate her. The company found her Social Security number and other private data that they normally search for, but they took things a step further than they normally do to show Newsweek how much is possible, especially when factoring in the information available on social media. They found out her body type, health status, intelligence, education history, maturity and financial habits and much more. The scariest part is that it pulled in a lot of false information about her based on stories she wrote in the past, such as an article about polyamory and another about marijuana. Bennett goes on to discuss how this type of technology could really be the credit score of the future.

Do you think this type of personal investigation is going too far? Let me know what you think below. Read on for my roundup of the best credit- and debt-related personal finance blog posts from the past week!

It's one thing to be hip and cool, but don't let the cool thing of the moment lead you to make bad money decisions.

That's the message behind a warning issued today by a leading consumer advocacy group about the Kardashian Kard, a new prepaid debit card being marketed to teens and young adults. As its name implies, the card is backed by the Kardashian sisters, Kim, Kourtney and Khloe, the stars of the E! cable network reality series about their lavish lifestyles, "Keeping up with the Kardashians."

Last week, when the Kardashian trio announced they were lending their names and celebrity to a new prepaid debit card, the general reaction from smart money watchers was: Keep away.

Last week's blog about getting your annual flu shot at a pharmacy rather than going to your primary care physician was selected for the weekly Carnival of Personal Finance.

In the last few years, there has been a push toward consumer advocacy with finances. There has been a great emphasis on establishing good financial health for individuals, and in February, the CARD Act went into effect. Among many other things, the regulations require credit card issuers to give their card holders 45-day notice of any major changes to the terms of agreement.

Slowly but surely, there has also been more awareness about the food we eat and our physical health. This week, FOX News announced that San Francisco's Board of Supervisors has approved an ordinance that will ban toys from fast food meals for kids. While fast food may be the most affordable in the short-term, it can be devastating in the long-term in medical bills.

I think it's interesting and exciting that consumers are becoming more empowered and that governments are trying to help consumers keep their wallets and health in check. Sometimes consumers need a little help protecting themselves.

Read on for my roundup of my top 10 favorite credit- and debt-related blog posts from the past week.

Flu season is upon us and you or a loved one might be rolling up your sleeves to get the annual vaccination against the influenza virus.

Here's my question for you: How are you paying for it?

If you have health insurance coverage through your employer, you might think you're doing the right thing if you go to your doctor's office for the shot. But are you?

For the last few months, partisan politics has been in full force, especially with the advent of the Libertarian-leaning Tea Party movement. Citizens were angry about a variety of issues on both sides and were ready to vote. On Nov. 2, the Republican overwhelmingly took back the House of Representatives. The Democrats held onto the majority in the Senate, but just barely.

Republicans have declared that they plan to repeal the health care act and replace it with more minor reforms. Some of my friends in grad school have already felt the positive effects from it, such as being permitted to stay on their parents' health insurance one more year. I wonder if they can take away changes that have already gone into effect. It seems like back-peddling to me to spend time undoing something that just took so long to do! But such is politics. It's always an ebb and flow, with parties switching power every few years. I'm interested to see how these power changes affect everyday Americans like me. What do you think will change?

Please read on to learn about my top 10 favorite personal finance blog posts from the past week.

Thanks to Consumerism Commentary for including my recent blog post in the 281st edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance. This week's theme: Halloween candy.

My blog about the Federal Reserve's makeover of the consumer credit card agreement website was included in the "credit card and debt" category. As the blog points out, the Fed made some good changes, but there is still work to be done to help consumers find their own credit contracts on the Fed's site.