It is called the Direct Express Debit Mastercard and you can use it to get your monthly benefits for programs such as Social Security.

Our partners at TheStreet.com explain the following about the Mastercard:

“The new payment card will be far safer and easier — especially for those who do not have bank accounts. It will be “re-loaded” monthly with the benefit amount. Then, the card can be used with a secure PIN to get cash at any ATM where debit MasterCard is accepted.”

As you can see right off, the Mastercard is really beneficial for those who use it. Some people choose not to have a bank account and instead cash all of the checks they receive from their Social Security. Often times when you cash a check and do not go to your own financial institution, you end up paying huge fees; this card is a way to avoid these extra expenses. Social Security recipients also no longer need to carry around large sums of cash. Not only is it not safe to carry a lot of cash around, it is also extremely risky. If it gets stolen, there is no way to replace the cash that is gone, this is not the case with the debit card which can be replaced.

Another benefit?…Checks no longer need to be sent through the mail! According to Judith Tillman, Commissioner of the Treasury Department’s Financial Management Service, they received 700,000 reports of stolen or lost checks just last year. That is an incredible amount of money that disappeared and recipients never got to benefit from it.

With the Debit MasterCard, there are some fees that you will need to pay. After your first withdrawal from an ATM each month, you are charged $.90 per ATM transaction. However, we all know that even with a bank account we can receive fees from our banks PLUS fees from the bank who owns the ATM. So to me, $.90 seems like a fair withdrawal fee to pay since often times I can pay up to $5.00 or more for using an ATM not owned by my bank. Plus, you will have already been saving on the cost that you would pay to have your check cashed. However, you can avoid the fees by asking for cash back at stores such as CVS or Walgreens when you are making a purchase from these stores (believe me, I’ve done this a time or two just to avoid paying fees)!

The Debit MasterCard works a little bit like direct deposit into your bank account. But instead of the cash going into a savings or checking account, it automatically gets put onto your MasterCard.

So, you must decide if the card is for you! The benefits definitely outweigh the cost and the card is both safe and convenient to use. If you feel as though you are ready for something that can make your life easier, check out the website for more details on your next steps to take!

Photo: Kevin Rosseel

Related Articles:
Ultra-Safe Places to Stash Your Cash
10 Ways to Improve Your Credit Score
Financial Road Block?

In this day and age, it is easy to work yourself into debt. Saving seems to be difficult when gas and other prices are on the rise. Regardless of how you got into debt, if you are trying to get yourself out you need to make sure you are trusting in the right people.

The best way to organize things and work through your bad credit is to try and do it yourself. But for several reasons, this doesn’t always work for everyone. A lack of complete understanding as where to start and sometimes a lack of time can both contribute.

The next question then is who to trust?

If you are looking to take out a loan or anything similar, you first want to check out your credit report. According to an article from our partners at TheStreet.com, about 75% of all credit reports contain some type of error. These errors (either small or large) could prevent you from getting the loan you need. Its like those commercials for freecreditreport.com where they don’t check their credit report first and end up in some type of bad/crazy situation!! Make sure to check your credit report in advance so this doesn’t happen to you! Even if you think your report should be pretty close to perfect, it is better to be safe than sorry (as they always say).

Good Guys
Be Careful Who Fixes Your Credit on TheStreet.com helps you sort through the “good guys” vs. the “bad guy” in the credit world. The Credit Repair Organizations (CROs) will do much of the “dirty” work for you such as contacting the credit bureau (but all of this can also be done by yourself).

In the article, Peter McDougall states that a legitimate CRO should provide the following items in any contract you might sign:

Payment terms and services, including their total cost

A detailed description of all of the services that will be performed

A timeline for the performance of these services

Any guarantee the company or organization offers

The company’s name and business address (preferably something more than a post office box)

Make sure that you consider all of your options and understand the conditions before signing any type of contract.

Bad Guys
It isn’t always hard to pick out the bad CROs (or those individuals who are simply trying to scam you out of your money). Make sure you aren’t doing anything illegal. Also, know what you can do on your own for free…you don’t want to get charged for something that you can do by yourself without a fee. Understanding what the legitimate CROs can do for you should be able to help you eliminate those who are doing things illegally.

As always, do your research! It is good to ask for help if you think you need it, but make sure that you are asking the right people!

Having bad credit can be frustrating enough…in the end, fixing it should be a huge relief and weight off your shoulders. Make sure to use all the Geezeo features such as your budget and personal goals to organize your finances and not get yourself into further trouble!

Photo: Kevin Rosseel

Related Articles:
Vanishing Money: Consumer Debt Attacks
4 Tips To Control Your Mortgage in Topsy-Turvy Times
Is Your Cash Safe At the Bank?

What are your beauty-care expenses compared to Strawberry Shortcake’s makeover? Your Friday kitsch fix thanks to our partners at MainStreet.com.

–
The Shocking Cost If Strawberry Shortcake’s Makeover Was Real
By Jessica Wakeman and Mellissa Seecharan

In the grand tradition of aging actresses and socialites everywhere, American Greetings’ (AM) lovable ‘80s kitsch icon Strawberry Shortcake is getting a total makeover. But it’s not just her pinafore-and-dress ensemble that is changing. It looks like Shortcake may have had a few nips and tucks, too.

Button-big brown eyes, a face full of freckles, and her mop of red curls, are so two decades ago. The Shortcake of 2008 favors long, hot pink locks, bright green eyes, and a more fabulous outfit than her bloomers of yore.

And, her makeover goes beyond the work of a stylist, hair iron and tinted contacts, says Scott W. Mosser, MD, a board-certified plastic surgeon in San Francisco, Calif. In fact, Mosser says, Shortcake looks to have had a complete facial reconstruction.

“This is not a rejuvenation. The nose is completely different, her eyes are different shapes,” he says of the old and new dolls. “Most people want a subtle update, not a fundamental change to what they look like.”

Between the hair, the eyes, clothes and nose, Dr. Mosser thinks Shortcake’s new look is much too extreme for real life because it’s so obvious, like that makeover TV show The Swan (NWS).

What kind of work did Strawberry Shortcake get done, and how much would such a makeover cost in real life?

Click here to discover what Strawberry Shortcake had to pay to be pretty - or what you’d have to pay if you want to look like her.

What “ripple effects” are happening in your financial life right now? Can you change them?

Yesterday The New York Times featured an article about people first losing their homes and then losing their possessions because they cannot pay for their storage units. (Here’s a link to the mobile phone version of the story).

A “ripple effect” occurs when something happens and the consequences spread out to touch and affect other areas, often unintentionally.

Some examples in your financial life might be:

Not paying your bills on time, every time….which sinks your credit score….which makes it more expensive to borrow money for large purchases….which makes your new bills even higher.

That’s one ripple effect cycle to avoid! Here’s another:

Not investing small amounts when you can….missing the advantages of dollar-cost-averaging….requiring more savings and/or higher, riskier returns to live comfortably when you’re older and cannot work.

Phew! Sounds terrible! But couldn’t ripple effects in your finances also be positive? Consider the inverse of the two examples mentioned. Or, consider these shifts in behavior that can dramatically change your financial life:

Figure out where you spend all your money….create a budget to maximize your resources….meet your financial goals.

Or another good one:

Get out of debt….feel more confident and in control….be a happier person.

Choose your moves wisely. Your financial behavior will allow you to enjoy ripple effects we all want — those that keep getting better and better.

“Not one had a clue what they were paying in fees.”

Several things can restrict a healthy retirement. One of the least discussed is the role of fees. Several kinds of fees can add up: fees to your financial advisor, fees associated with owning an investment, and fees tacked on in unexpected places.

I spoke with Suzanne, a Geezeo user who runs the Geezeo group “About Financial Advisors”. She realized in the nick of time how much fees were costing her. She now teaches others common-sense ways to keep your fees at a minimum for maximum returns.

Suzanne, you narrowly escaped some bad financial advice. But, you rose up to take the lead yourself. Can you tell us what happened?

I started putting money into my retirement account when I was in my early 20’s, Katie, but had it all in company stock. When I retired, at 47, I realized how much risk I had taken and that it was luck that my stock had done well. I was completely ignorant about investing and thought I’d better get a financial advisor. I also learned a bit about index funds and how fees badly hurt returns.

Every one of the twelve financial advisors I interviewed charged high fees (it was a bear figuring them out) and advised against index funds! I knew this was wrong and concluded I had to do my own investing. I was terrified! But I kept reading and learning and I started to see I was making it much harder than it needed to be. I set up a simple, very low-cost, diversified portfolio that I understood and that has done very well. I spend less than 8 hours a YEAR on my investments.

I started looking at investments owned by my friends and family and all of them had been sold poor-performing, expensive funds. Not one had a clue what they were paying in fees. Most thought…nothing. So I started helping people learn, and it turned out to be so much fun! I recently started a website that shows people how to use Morningstar to look up information about their funds and learn how to do their own investing.

www.saveyournestegg.com

What’s the best part of taking control of your own financial decisions?

It’s a four-way tie! Saving all the fees (literally hundreds of thousands of dollars over time), knowing what is happening to my money, the self-confidence I earned and being able to help people.

Here’s something a ‘financial advisor’ will never tell you: Objective studies are showing that people using ‘financial advisors’ usually get much lower returns than those doing their own investing. Here’s one:

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=616981

What’s the best advice you’d give someone who is intimidated by choices or “experts”?

I think we all start out intimidated! The industry is set up to intimidate us. Ignore the noise. You can set up a great asset allocation with 4 - 6 funds and there are free tools to help you do that. For example:

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/planningeducation/general/PEdGPCreateHwToCreatePlnContent.jsp

Just honestly assess your risk tolerance (my site has links to several quizzes) so you won’t panic and sell low. And, don’t chase past returns! Read a good book, like this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Bogleheads-Guide-Investing-Taylor-Larimore/dp/0471730335

It is so important that people take responsibility. I know how much people want to trust their ‘Financial ADVISOR’, but that name is very misleading. 95% of ‘financial advisors’ are brokers - salesmen that work for a firm, not you. They make no money selling low-cost, no-load index funds unless they charge an ongoing % of assets (wrap fee) which ruins the benefit of low-cost funds. My opinion: If you must, use a fee ONLY (not fee BASED) planner to set you up and pay a flat fee or one time fee, not a percent of assets. If you have a special need, find an expert in that area and pay them by the hour.

This scares me: The safe withdrawal rate in retirement is usually considered to be 4% BEFORE CONSIDERING FEES. (This is what you can safely withdraw from your investments and not run out of money before you die). It’s typical for clients to pay 2 - 3% of their investments in wrap, commission and fund fees. What does that leave the retiree? (Here is a tool to help people find out: http://fireseeker.com/firecalc.php )

Figure out (or get in writing) every single fee you pay, including the cost of turnover within your fund, which is not disclosed in your expense ratio. Add up the fees and know what you pay dollar-wise every month. Would you write a check for that amount every month?

What do you discuss in your Geezeo group?

After many years of research I have come to the conclusion that much of the financial advice industry is a sham. As you might imagine, that makes for interesting discussions.

I bet! Thanks, Suzanne, for discussing this often overlooked part of longterm financial planning. If you’d like to discuss these and other topics with Suzanne or others in her group, please see “About Financial Advisors”.

Land line telephones used to be the number one thing that Americans would have a hard time giving up. However, times change, and people are becomming more dependant on their cell phones, with that becoming #1 instead.

And why would they want to give it up? Now-a-days, you can do pretty much anything you can think of with your cell phone - play games, take pictures, pay bills, text your friends…

Take Geezeo for example. Did you know, you can register your cell phone under your settings page and then all you have to do is text “Geezeo” to 41411 to recieve your account balances anytime you want, even if you aren’t near your computer?

Talk about easy money management!

Should you buy that cute outfit? After all, it is on sale! Or will that max out yet another credit card?

Can you afford that round of drinks? It is your best friends engagement, and you feel like you should… But what about the overdraft fees you will incur?

If our cell phones are capable of these great amenities, then why not use them to our advantage! Take control today, the Geezeo way!

written by Christina Dille

Here’s a new item for your Geezeo budget— Gotchas! According to research by Bob Sullivan of The Red Tape Chronicles, the average American consumer pays up to $1,000 a year in hidden fees and surcharges. Sullivan’s new book Gotcha Capitalism is a collection of work compiled from the RedTape Chronicles blog in which he documents the ways we are nickeled and dimed by big business and the government. ‘Gotchas’ are those discretionary fees, taxes, and charges tacked onto the goods and services we pay for. Sign up for $24.95 phone service and end up paying $35? Gotcha! And it’s your fault for not reading the fine print. Want out of the contract? No problem, just pay a termination fee that will cost more than keeping the service.

A couple of years ago my former bank, PNC, started charging $1 every month to send out a statement. I was angry that I had to pay for something the bank should do as part of basic customer service. Of course PNC was counting on people like me either not paying attention or not taking the time to complain over $12 a year. See when I was getting ripped off for $1 I thought, like most consumers, “It’s not the money, it’s the principle”. Not true anymore. $7 a month to get my cancelled checks back, $5 in fees if I have to use another bank’s ATM. Yes it definitely IS the money. As consumers become hip to the games companies have gotten greasier.

Example: Anyone use VistaPrint? Just before checkout buyers are encouraged to collect a $10 coupon. I normally ignore the come-on but the desire to be more frugal made me click on the ad. Quickly realizing I’d have to jump through hoops and give away lots of personal information I gave up and purchased the items without the coupon. Three months later I noticed a suspicious charge for $14.95 on my bank statement. After calling to investigate I learned that by clicking YES (which I don’t remember doing) on ‘Would you like to receive special offers’ I’d given an affiliate company permission to charge my card for ’special consumer offers’ and they got away with it for three months. My bad! Doubly worse - I never got any ’special offers’ and VistaPrint betrayed my trust by giving out my credit information! The money was refunded with no problems but I believe that was only because of an awareness that their actions were borderline fraudulent and the company didn’t want to risk scrutiny by denying refunds.

A little here, a little there and suddenly there’s a nice leak in your bank account, it adds up quickly. So what can you do? Well unfortunately companies know that 99% of people will not complain because it’s not worth the time. It’s like taking a day off work to fight a parking ticket, it doesn’t make financial sense. Gotcha charges are like a forced latte factor. At least my latte has some hot frothy goodness. Yes, it is a drain on my wallet but it’s one that I control.

Hidden fees, surcharges, and surprise taxes are being forced down our throats whether we like it or not and sometimes without our knowledge. According to Sullivan, buyers must complain, and complain some more. Complain to everyone from the store clerk to upper management. Make your complaints public, blog them, tell as many people as you can. Equally important is to pay attention, the businesses who engage in these kinds of practices count on people not paying attention. For more information visit The Red Tape Chronicles or pick up Gotcha Capitalism for tips on how to get some of your money back.

I’m sure you found this post informative so to save you time I’ve already deducted my dollar from your checking account. You’re welcome!

Today we have a guest post from Geezeo member Christina Dille, who runs the group “Wellness Professionals”. If you’d like to submit an article for our blog, please follow our guidelines for submission.

Thanks, Christina!

This is one to be filed under “Cautionary Tale”.

Here’s a young couple looking to take a nice trip abroad for the new year and they are doing their best to think wisely with regards to finances, specifically avoiding the currency conversion charges that some cards will hit you with when making purchases overseas. They settle on a Capital One card that doesn’t charge the fee but upon signing up they are only given a $1k credit limit which is too low for their comfort. “No worries!”, offers the representative, “Just send us a check for $6k and you’ll have a $7k limit!” After signing up they gave some more thought to the proposition and with their vacation looming near confirm again with Capital One that the extra $6k will be available on their account and are assured repeatedly that everything will be fine.

Great!

On December 30, we were eating dinner in Costa Rica. I tried to pay with my card. It was declined. I went next door to buy $2 worth of postcards (yes, with a credit card; desperate times, desperate measures). Again, rejected.

Um. That must have been some dinner…or maybe not.

…a $6000 deposit on a zero balance was a huge red flag, and there would be a mandatory hold on my account. I started to explain everything, but he cut me off: “You have to understand, there are rules. I know you wish you could make the rules, but these are Capital One’s rules.”

Ah, the old “your money is my money” rule.

So what is Capital One’s responsibility here? They have it documented on several occasions that their representatives assured him that overpaying his account would boost his credit limit. Ideally, they should pull the hold from his account or reverse the $6k deposit he made before leaving thus freeing up funds in his checking account.

What is the the consumer’s responsibility here? Well, the old adage “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” comes to mind. Honestly, they should have spread the trip over a couple of credit cards and some travelers checks and if they really wanted a zero fee card with a $7k limit shopping for one a couple of weeks before the trip really isn’t the best time to do it. Just like investments time and diversification are your friends and always keep an eye on your wallet when dealing with a credit card company.

via The Consumerist

The following blog is taken from a post in the Geezeo group Quarter Life Crisis by Her Every Cent Counts.

Looking into my wallet, I noticed I had several credit cards, but NO CASH!! That got me thinking… Where is all my cash going?

I went online that night and looked at each one of my credit cards – some had an APR (annual percentage rate) as high as 24% (average APR is 14.53 %*)!!! That is literally just throwing money away!

I called up my father, who is ex-military (you get the idea), and told him about my lingering financial problem. He immediately looked at his calendar and scheduled a meeting with me the next Friday night – not my idea of fun to start off the weekend! He instructed that I bring all 4 of my credit cards and print my statements offline.

Friday night rolled around and I showed up with all of my credit card information in tow. He instructed that I sit down and we end this craziness right away. He got on the kitchen phone, and I got on the cordless phone.

I picked the first credit card out of my wallet, a Citi Bank card, flipped it over and dialed the customer service number on the back. After at least five minutes of automated, and annoying, prompts, and after waiting on hold for another five minutes, I was put in touch with a representative. She asked how she could help me, and I asked her what my annual percentage rate was. She said 15%, which, although close to the average, is still a lot. My dad immediately chimed in with, “That is crazy! You’re going to have to lower that or cancel her card.� A little startled, she typed on her keyboard and said that she could change it to 13%. “That’s not good enough, cancel the card!� was my dad’s response.

She said that she was sorry that she couldn’t get us a better APR, but would put us in touch with Citi Bank’s financial representative. After another few minutes of holding, a man came on the phone and said that he would lower my APR to 7.9% and thanked me for being a customer.

Wow – I just almost cut my interest rate in half. Feeling better it was on to the next credit card…

Two hours later, when we were both exhausted, we had cancelled one card (couldn’t lower the APR enough), and significantly reduced the other three. I’m in the process now of finding the best card to transfer my closed account balance to. I know that closing my credit card hurt my credit score, but at this point, I can use the extra cash and feel that I’m young enough to rebuild the reduction quickly!

I guess the lesson here is: Ask – Depending on your debt, you could be saving hundreds, if not thousands of dollars by making one phone call!

*March 2, 2007 survey:
http://www.consumer-action.org/news/articles/2007_credit_card_survey/

53 Billion dollars. That is how much US financial service firms are expecting to rake in in overdraft fees this year. Repeat that number - 53 Billion dollars!

Why? 80% of consumers purchase items with a debit card that is linked to a checking or savings account. Unfortunately very few of us actually balance a check book or account for debit transactions.

What can be done? We are proud to launch Geezeo mobile which aims to put an end to overdraft fees.

The biggest problem is we typically do not have access to our accounts when we need them most - when we are out on a shopping spree or out for a big night on the town. Being that we are all eternal optimists we will gingerly hand our debit or credit cards over to a cashier… wait anxiously… and if the cashier accepts it… Yahoo! - we feel we are free and clear. There MUST have been enough money in the account. Unfortunately, the next day comes in - and bam… overdraft fees… for 3 different charges… $100 in fees down the drain.

With our free service you can send a text message to your Geezeo account and check ALL your financial account balances -in real-time- before you buy. BAM! no more overdraft fees. Only buy what you can afford and only use the cards and accounts that have enough money to cover it.

Sounds simple, huh?