IQ

September 2007

eBay has become the gorilla of vehicles sales virtually overnight—they've facilitated over two million vehicle sales since starting their program. What's not to like about that?

A lot of things. Before you head to the eBay site even just to poke around, think about this:

• When you buy on eBay, you're typically buying "sight unseen."
• You usually don't get to drive the vehicle.
• You're typically buying from total strangers, and they are usually far away.

August 2007

Earn $500 to $1000 weekly in your spare time!

Earn $150 an hour on your home computer!

Have you seen ads like these? Tempting “come-ons” for work-at-home “businesses” are everywhere. For years, they’ve appeared on utility poles, in classified ads in newspapers, magazines, and freebie papers, and in direct mail flyers. Now they are showing up in web ads and spam emails. Who wouldn’t want to make a nice chunk of change for just a little work in their spare time? Have you been tempted?

Thousands of promoters of work-at-home schemes hope that you will be tempted—and that you will “act now” to send them a “few dollars” to find out more. But as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warns consumers, the only sure cash in these deals is usually the fees that consumers send to the promoters. The vast majority of work-at-home schemes promoted by such ads are misleading and most are also fraudulent.

July 2007

How much Americans save—or don’t save—has been in the news since the U.S. government’s report of leading economic indicators indicated that in 2005 the U.S. personal savings rate reached zero and dipped into negative figures. The U.S. personal savings rate since then has remained near zero or below it. Debate continues about whether the savings picture is actually so bleak because the calculation only looks at personal income and spending to determine the savings rate and doesn’t take into account income from investments or from possible increases (or decreases) in home equity. But even if the savings picture is a little rosier, commonsense says that as a nation of consumers we are probably not saving enough for a rainy day or more dire emergencies. And of course, there’s the question of saving toward something important, such as a down payment for a home or a fund for higher education or retirement.

June 2007

Whether your credit is already good or could use some improvement, managing your personal finances in ways that enhance your creditworthiness is always smart. Adopting sound practices that enhance your credit score is a good place to start.

The topic of credit scores has been in the personal finance news since credit reporting agencies began to make such scores available to consumers several years ago. This event has opened the door to a number of Web-based companies that offer to provide your score — along with outrageous fees — for what may be inaccurate information. You can get all this information yourself for much less. The IQ Report, “What's Your Credit Score, and How Can it Affect Your Credit?”explains credit scoring and tells you how to get accurate information about your score by using Educators’ terrific service called What’s Your Score? This program not only gives you your credit report and score for free, but an Educators representative will also sit down with you in person to look at your credit rating and explain what it means for your financial well-being.

May 2007

What is your credit score? And why is it important? Educators Credit Union wants to be sure you know what this important number means. So Educators offers a terrific service called What’s Your Score? This program not only gives you your credit score for free, but an Educators representative will also sit down with you in person to look at your credit rating and explain what it means for your financial well-being. I strongly recommend that you check this program out.

In this report, I give you some basic facts about credit scoring that highlight its importance to your financial health. Credit scoring is a system of statistically analyzing credit reports that provides a simple three-digit score comparing an individual’s past and current credit performance to that of similar consumers. Your credit score provides lenders, or other potential creditors such as insurance companies or landlords, a quick, fairly objective way to assess your creditworthiness—or likely ability to pay back a loan or mortgage or pay the rent. Knowing your credit score (along with regularly checking your credit report) is a smart thing to do.