7 Ways to Raise Your Credit Score

Short form in plain English could become industry standard

(NEWSER) - The government's consumer finance watchdog has created a credit card agreement that's five times shorter than usual and written in plain English. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is asking for the public's feedback on the prototype, which can be viewed here . The agreement is just over 1,000 words long and does away with much of the legalese that studies show befuddles up to two-thirds of credit card users, AP reports. More»

Financial advisers ponder meaning of 'competence'

(NEWSER) - The first sign of Arthur Packel's Alzheimer's was the call from the homeowner's association asking for unpaid fees. As his mind began its long slide, it turns out, the first thing he did was simply stop paying bills. When his wife tried to pick up the slack, she found much of their money gone. And despite a forensic accountant's efforts, “It just disappeared,” Renee Packel tells the New York Times . More»

Credit scores sink to new lows

(NEWSER) - Thanks to the Great Recession, the credit scores of millions more Americans have sunk to new lows. New figures show that an astounding 1 in 4 households are now in the lowest credit category, boosting the number of those considered poor lending risks to 43 million. Even more consumers are expected to fall into this category in the coming months. More»

Some simple moves can net $1K or more

(NEWSER) - On the eve of the first serious workday of the New Year, take a hard look at your finances and see where you can cut back in 2010. A relatively small investment in time can result in some serious savings, Kathy Kristof writes for the Los Angeles Times :

• Save automatically: "Try having just $25 a month put into a savings account at the beginning of each month." You can still spend it, but if all goes well, "you'll just find a way to spend that much less."

Once modest industry will soon lend more than $5 billion annually

(NEWSER) - As the banking pendulum swings from reckless lending to impossible-to-get credit, people are increasingly turning away from institutions and toward each other for loans, reports the Washington Post. The shaky stock market has made the peer-to-peer market ideal for investors, while borrowers happily trade credit card debt for interest rates as low as 4%. More»