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Verdict: The Platinum Card(R) from American Express offers the highest level of top-tier benefits to cardholders – the prestige associated with card membership is like no other program available. The rewards program is like no other and the annual fee of $450.00 seems minimal when compared to the rewards that cardholders have access to.

Overview: Like many American Express cards, the Platinum Card is a charge card, not a credit card. This means that you must pay your balance in full every month. This does eliminate any worries about interest rates. But make sure that you don’t spend more than you can afford to pay off every month.

How This Card Works: This is a rewards card, allowing you to rack up Membership Rewards points with every purchase that you make with your Platinum Card. You can then turn these points into gift certificates, free airline miles, hotel stays, car rentals, home electronics and other merchandise.

Travel and Shopping Benefits: You’ll earn one Membership Rewards point for every dollar that you charge with your Platinum Card. You’l

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Tags: American Express, Card, Platinum Card

It’s hard to stay motivated paying off your debt. You sacrifice and send payments month after month, but your balances seem to inch down.

Creating milestones in debt plan can keep you from becoming discouraged. Milestones are mini-goals that you’ll pass on your way to debt freedom. As you reach a milestone, give yourself a small reward to remind you of the great progress you’re making.

Tags: Debt, Debt Payoff

Credit card issuing banks are lobbying federal regulators in an attempt to put restrictions on who qualifies for a credit card. Under their proposed changes, for example, if your spouse makes the family income but you stay at home and don’t draw a salary because you are raising kids or caring for a sick parent then you won’t be eligible for a credit card of your own.

The card companies argue that giving cards to people who do not have any verifiable income is a mistake, and that many people who fall into that category end up defaulting on their payments. Blaming this kind of credit for many of the recent problems with credit card delinquency and nonpayment, they say that they believe those who do not earn a paycheck should not be issued plastic.

The rules are expected to go into effect by the end of the year. So credit card industry experts say that if you are one of those stay-at-home consumers who doesn’t have steady income, you may want to hurry and apply for your credit card now, before the restrictions take hold. Then

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Tags: Make, Make Harder

Chapter 7 bankruptcy is legal protection from your creditors.  It’s for individual consumers and is also known as “liquidation”, because the debtor has to sell assets to pay off debts.  The assets not exempt from bankruptcy are luxury items, household items, real estate, cars and boats. The debts not discharged are child-support and alimony back payments, criminal fees, federal taxes, government student loans, and mortgage liens.  Any loans that have a cosigner may be liable for the debt.

Qualification for Chapter 7 is based on ie, which must be less than your state’s median ie.  It is calculated by a “means test” using ie and expenses and is fairlyplicated.  Usually a person selects chapter 7, because they don’t have any assets to lose or has little property except the basics such as furniture and clothing. They have very little or no money remaining after paying for the basic expenses.  The main reasons people file for chapter 7 bankruptcy are unemployment, large medical expenses, overextended credit, marital problems, and large unexpected expenses.

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Tags: Bankruptcy

Those who have good credit often receive a variety of credit cards in the mail, which are already approved and ready to be used. Companies send these out to customers who they know are a very low credit risk, in the hope that they will start using them. The cards can be activated after receiving them, which allows them to then be used by the consumer, up to the pre-set credit limit that comes with the card, as long as the cardholder has agreed to the contract, verified their identity and set up their pin number with the credit card company.

The question is, however, should consumers activate new cards which they receive in the mail. Many people do activate nearly every card that they receive, and there are advantages and disadvantages on both sides. While it can be useful to have several different options when it comes to credit, and a large amount of available credit, the disadvantage is that it can be tempting to have that much credit available, and some consumers will see it as an excuse to spend, which can turn into a problem very quickly when the bill comes due and the minimum payments are totaling up.

There are, however, some advantages to opening credit cards when they are received in this way.

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Tags: Credit Cards, Mail