A visitor recently questioned the effectiveness of using balance transfer credit cards to get out of debt. His skepticism was well reasoned, as it is hard to fathom just how expensive credit card debt can be. In my opinion, the visitor was more in denial about how much interest the average person with $5,000 in debt pays over the course of a year then he was about balance transfers. Similarly, its equally difficult to fathom how long it can take to get out of debt with an interest rate in the mid teens, let alone a default rate in the twenties. Continue Reading »
Archive for May, 2009
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May04
MayUnfortunately, a number of my dire predictions have been coming true recently. Eight months ago, I wrote that no fee balance transfers would become a thing of the past. Today, getting a 0% APR for 1 year on a credit card that charges no fees on balance transfers is a distant memory.
About the same time, I warned that balance transfer fees would rise. At that time, most companies were charging a 3% fee with a $75 maximum. A few weeks later, companies began lifting the $75 maximum, raising the cost on balance transfers in excess of $2500 dramatically. Continue Reading »
