Your Credit Cards Guide

Your credit report can be a tool to help you guard against or discover identity theft. Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personal information such as your name, Social Security number, or your credit card number to commit fraud. Identity thieves may use your information to open a new credit card account in your name. Then, when they dont pay the bills, the delinquent account is reported on your credit report. Inaccurate or fraudulent information could affect your ability to get credit, insurance, or housing, now or in the future. People whose identities have been stolen can spend months or years cleaning up the mess the thieves have made of their names and credit records.

When a business sees the alert on your credit report, it must verify your identity before issuing you credit. The business may try to contact you directly, but if youre on deployment, that may be impossible. As a result, the law allows you to use a personal representative to place or remove an alert.

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College comes with a great many expenses and new experiences that have a deep impact on the rest of one’s life. For many students, it is their first exposure to credit and both the advantages and perils that come with credit cards.

Making good decisions early on can set one on the right path, and there are many opportunities available just for students. Finding the right student credit card often seems daunting, but if accomplished can improve the college experience and create a solid credit foundation for the rest of one’s life.

Conversely, making poor credit choices while in college can saddle students with a lifetime of debt. Read through this guide to learn if a student credit card is right for you and then if so, how to find the very best student credit card offers.

A student credit card is a card that is specifically targeted at and designed for college students, with a special focus given to their needs.

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Dear Erica,

Am I responsible for my late husband’s credit card debt? I told the man from the company that they were not my cards and that my husband has passed away, but they are not taking no for an answer. I never used them, and I honestly did not sign for them. My husband only used them for his plumbing business. If I do have to pay, I don’t know how Im going to do that because Im retired and living on a very fixed income. I am 72 and don’t think I can go back to work in todays economy and my heath. Please help. Miriam

Hi Miriam,

Most likely you are not liable for the debt in question a response that I hope you find at least a little soothing. The only way you might have to take it on is if you live in a state that has community property laws on the books. These are Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.

In essence, community property means that assets and liabilities that you accumulated during the course of the marriage are to be shared equally among both partners. There

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The number of new credit card offers mailed out to American consumers in 2011 was the highest one since 2007, the Boston Globe tells us, citing data released by Synovate, a market research firm. Card issuers sent out a grand total of four billion credit card mailings last year, three times as many as they did in 2009, we learn.

These new numbers dont come as a surprise, as the perceived improvement in the economy was bound to restore the issuers interest in handing out new credit. What is surprising at least to me, however, is how far some issuers are willing to go in doing so. As weve pointed out before and as the Globe notes, some of these new mailings come with incredibly attractive sign-up incentives. So good are some of them that I dont remember ever before seeing better ones. This exceptionally high quality also prompts the question whether the issuers are really that desperate to sign up new customers or are they forced to be so generous, because we are just not interested in what they have to offer.

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In response to a young lady who tweeted a less-than-flattering review by trusted financial blogger Philip Taylor of PT Money:

@20andengaged Too bad you choose to believe an idiot over me- you just keep following others and see where it gets you

@scrpbks4u read the great reviews of legit reporters or ones that are smart enough to understand what I am doing. There are many Suze haters

@YourMoneyDrawer @ptmoney if you want to think that you can. But ignorance as to the big picture here says more about you than me.

@Audrey00211 dont worry Aud. I can take it. I am use to people who know nothing think they know everything.

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Verdict: Students that belong to the Georgia’s Own Credit Union can take advantage of the Student Visa that is offered. This credit card is intended for students who have a limited credit history and want a low cost, well designed card to pay for school expenses. Despite being a student card, this credit card offers the same cardholder benefits as Georgia’s Own Platinum card, including a rewards program, no annual fee and a low interest rate. This credit card is recommended to any student who wants a card that is easy to qualify for and offers the same benefits of a higher end card.

Overview: Georgia’s Own Credit Union offers membership to any resident in most Georgia counties, along with employees of certain organizations and students and faculty at Georgia State University. There are three credit cards offered, including the Student Visa. This

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