When a widespread data breach happens, children are often the most at risk for identity theft. Their clean credit histories make them targets for identity thieves to steal information and open new lines of credit. After the Anthem data breach, millions of children in the U.S. had their personal information exposed, making them vulnerable to… Read More

Ivory, one of our readers, bought a car at a dealership and drove it home. Fifteen days later, she received a letter saying that the loan had been denied. Here’s her story: Me and my mom were approved for an auto loan on 1/27 we signed all the paperwork even got the car payment bank… Read More

Filing your taxes should trigger a feeling of relief — it’s a huge thing you get to scratch off your to-do list — but millions of taxpayers have submitted their taxes only to have a very unpleasant experience: that their Social Security number has already been used in a tax filing. Most people discover this… Read More

Another calendar quarter has passed and the latest edition of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Report on Household Debt and Credit is on the wire. As usual, there’s plenty of news to pick apart. Take, for example, the reported $117 billion increase in average household debt in the final three months of 2014…. Read More

Millions of consumers could be lifted out of subprime status and get better loan terms if credit reports and scores were broadened to consider on-time utility and rent payments, according to a study released Wednesday by Experian. Experian is advocating for inclusion of non-traditional entries onto consumer credit reports, expanding them beyond loans, credit cards… Read More

We all know that eating out can be expensive, but it turns out that cooking for yourself can also be costly. Since food is not an expense we can afford to cut out completely, it’s a good idea to consider cutting back — without sacrificing taste. Check out these tips to save money in your kitchen… Read More

We’ve all heard terrible stories of car salesmen charging more than a car is worth. We’ve also heard of excellent bargainers shaving hundreds (or even thousands!) off of a car’s sticker price. Buying a car is a major purchase, so it’s important to calculate a budget you can afford, put in the necessary research and… Read More

Where was your credit in the spring of 2008? For many people it was teetering on the edge of solvency, about to plummet into the deep hole known as the Great Recession. By the end of the following year, 2009, mortgage delinquencies would climb to almost 7%, according to data by TransUnion. Credit card late… Read More

Getting a mortgage will probably be the largest transaction of your life — no doubt, it will have an impact on your finances for the next 30 years. With that in mind, when it comes to how much you can borrow for that big transaction, any debts you have now will reduce that amount. And… Read More

With the year of the data breach behind us, the new trend in cybersecurity is the growth of the Internet of Things — the devices around you that you use in your daily life that also record data and communicate with other networks via the Internet. While cybercriminals regularly go after computers and mobile devices… Read More