Managing Your Credit Cards and Financial Accounts

Although the Official Geezer Guides are about helping people earn extra money, from time to time we will include articles and information to help our readers manage and save their money. Here is a great article from Nilus Mattive about credit cards and managing your credit and financial accounts. Niles writes for Money & Markets, a financial newsletter I subscribe to. It is reprinted with permission.

Financial New Year's Resolutions

By: Nilus Mattive

Building wealth and credit is all about making good choices. And when you boil it down to its essence, it's about linking together a bunch of small steps toward one, clear, long-term goal.

So, for the New Year, I wanted to give you a few ideas that are relatively simple to implement and pay big financial dividends (literally or figuratively) ...

#1. Sign up for a rewards credit card - By no means am I advocating racking up debt on a shiny new card. Rather, I'm suggesting you buy only what you can afford, and pay for it all with one card that actually gives you something back (cash, airline miles, whatever).

As long as you promptly settle up the entire owed balance on every due date, you're effectively getting something for nothing!

Plus, you receive a nice monthly inventory of all your expenditures, which is great for honing your budget. If your statements come electronically, you might even be able to dump them right into any financial management software you use.

One word of warning, though: Make sure the card you choose doesn't carry hefty fees. You might consider paying a low annual fee if you'll be receiving outsized benefits overall. But you should also know that there are rewards cards out there that don't have annual fees at all.

#2. Consolidate your accounts - While we're on the subject of credit cards, ask yourself how many you have right now ...

Then factor in all your savings accounts, checking accounts, and brokerage accounts ...

Now, tally up any retirement plans you have with old employers ...

Add in any other miscellaneous accounts ...

If you're starting to count on your toes, it's time to see which ones you can consolidate!

Reason: The easier it is for you to see all of your assets, the easier it will be for you to manage those assets. In addition, many financial institutions will give you better fee structures and other perks for doing a greater amount of business with them.

If you're fortunate enough to have savings that exceed FDIC protection you'll want to spread your assets around enough to get the insurance benefit. But beyond such practical concerns, I think the more consolidation you have, the better.

#3. Pull credit reports to check for errors and fraudulent activity - Because of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, every American is now entitled to a free report from the three nationwide consumer reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and Transunion) every 12 months. Yet a lot of people are not taking advantage of this offer.

You can choose to pull all three reports at one time, or space them out throughout the year so you get a frequent look into your records.

Whatever way you choose to do it, look for errors, incorrect addresses, or any suspicious activity. If you have questions or corrections, don't hesitate to contact the agency. After all, your credit score affects the interest rates you pay on all kinds of loans.

To get your reports, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call 1-877-322-8228. You can also request them by mail at: Annual Credit Report Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.

#4. Take advantage of DRIPS - I've devoted a lot of space to the benefits of Dividend Reinvestment Plans before, and I don't want to be redundant.

But I just had to use this opportunity as a gentle reminder to take full advantage of these plans if you don't need the current income from your stocks. Enrolling is easy and the power of compounding can produce tremendous results!

Bottom line: Together these small steps would take a few hours to complete. But they're the kind of moves that could pay you rich rewards for many years to come.

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This investment news is brought to you by Money and Markets. Money and Markets is a free daily investment newsletter from Martin D. Weiss and Weiss Research analysts offering the latest investing news and financial insights for the stock market, including tips and advice on investing in gold, energy and oil. Dr. Weiss is a leader in the fields of investing, interest rates, financial safety and economic forecasting. To view archives or subscribe, visit http://www.moneyandmarkets.com.