Military Officer - August 2007 - (Page 69) those just coming out of bankruptcy are bombarded with credit offers. Consumers are enticed with offers of low interest rates, rebate programs, and minuscule minimum payments, and credit terms often are loaded with confusing legal language. The welcome mat quickly turns into quicksand for many credit card holders. WISE UP Educating yourself about how credit cards make money is the best way to avoid getting stuck in the quicksand. It’s common knowledge that if you don’t pay off your balance in full every month, your bank will charge you interest. But banks are using two widespread, questionable practices — universal default and twocycle interest — to push your effective interest rate into the stratosphere. Let’s say you are late paying your mortgage. Your credit card holder unearths this information by conILLUSTRATION: STEPHEN F. HAYES/IMAGES.COM/CORBIS stantly monitoring your credit report. With universal default, the bank can raise your credit card interest rate (reportedly as high as 35 percent) simply because you’re late paying other creditors. Two-cycle interest occurs when you pay off some, but not all, of your balance each month. Under this method, interest is calculated on the balance you carried over the previous two months, resulting in the bank assessing interest on charges you’ve already paid off. In recent years, banks have been using rewards to persuade you to use their card more often. As consumers get in the habit of using their cards, banks have been scaling back these programs, so a purchase that once yielded 1,000 frequent flier miles now might earn only 500. FEE, FI, FO, FUM In 2005, banks collected nearly $8 billion in penalty fees. According to the Government Accountability OfAUGUST 2007 MILITARY OFFICER 69
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - August 2007 Military Officer - August 2007 Contents From the Editor From the President Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Chapter Activities Cover Story: No Longer in Reserve A Different Path Weird Science Charge? Pages of History Faces of MOAA Member Books Information Exchange Advertising Index MOAA Calendar MOAA Scholarship Donors Sounding Taps MOAA Member Services Encore Military Officer - August 2007 Military Officer - August 2007 - Military Officer - August 2007 (Page Cover1) Military Officer - August 2007 - Military Officer - August 2007 (Page Cover2) Military Officer - August 2007 - Contents (Page 1) Military Officer - August 2007 - Contents (Page 2) Military Officer - August 2007 - Contents (Page 3) Military Officer - August 2007 - Contents (Page 4) Military Officer - August 2007 - Contents (Page 5) Military Officer - August 2007 - Contents (Page 6) Military Officer - August 2007 - Contents (Page 7) Military Officer - August 2007 - Contents (Page 8) Military Officer - August 2007 - Contents (Page 9) Military Officer - August 2007 - From the Editor (Page 10) Military Officer - August 2007 - From the Editor (Page 11) Military Officer - August 2007 - From the President (Page 12) Military Officer - August 2007 - From the President (Page 13) Military Officer - August 2007 - Your Views (Page 14) Military Officer - August 2007 - Your Views (Page 15) Military Officer - August 2007 - Your Views (Page 16) Military Officer - August 2007 - Your Views (Page 17) Military Officer - August 2007 - Your Views (Page 18) Military Officer - August 2007 - Your Views (Page 19) Military Officer - August 2007 - MOAA Directory (Page 20) Military Officer - August 2007 - MOAA Directory (Page 21) Military Officer - August 2007 - MOAA Directory (Page 22) Military Officer - August 2007 - Rapid Fire (Page 23) Military Officer - August 2007 - Rapid Fire (Page 24) Military Officer - August 2007 - Rapid Fire (Page 25) Military Officer - August 2007 - Rapid Fire (Page 26) Military Officer - August 2007 - Rapid Fire (Page 27) Military Officer - August 2007 - Rapid Fire (Page 28) Military Officer - August 2007 - Rapid Fire (Page 29) Military Officer - August 2007 - Rapid Fire (Page 30) Military Officer - August 2007 - Rapid Fire (Page 31) Military Officer - August 2007 - Rapid Fire (Page 32) Military Officer - August 2007 - Washington Scene (Page 33) Military Officer - August 2007 - Washington Scene (Page 34) Military Officer - August 2007 - Washington Scene (Page 35) Military Officer - August 2007 - Washington Scene (Page 36) Military Officer - August 2007 - Washington Scene (Page 37) Military Officer - August 2007 - Washington Scene (Page 38) Military Officer - August 2007 - Washington Scene (Page 39) Military Officer - August 2007 - Washington Scene (Page 40) Military Officer - August 2007 - Washington Scene (Page 41) Military Officer - August 2007 - Washington Scene (Page 42) Military Officer - August 2007 - Washington Scene (Page 43) Military Officer - August 2007 - Financial Forum (Page 44) Military Officer - August 2007 - Financial Forum (Page 45) Military Officer - August 2007 - Ask the Doctor (Page 46) Military Officer - August 2007 - Ask the Doctor (Page 47) Military Officer - August 2007 - Chapter Activities (Page 48) Military Officer - August 2007 - Chapter Activities (Page 49) Military Officer - August 2007 - Chapter Activities (Page 50) Military Officer - August 2007 - Chapter Activities (Page 51) Military Officer - August 2007 - Cover Story: No Longer in Reserve (Page 52) Military Officer - August 2007 - Cover Story: No Longer in Reserve (Page 53) Military Officer - August 2007 - Cover Story: No Longer in Reserve (Page 54) Military Officer - August 2007 - Cover Story: No Longer in Reserve (Page 55) Military Officer - August 2007 - Cover Story: No Longer in Reserve (Page 56) Military Officer - August 2007 - Cover Story: No Longer in Reserve (Page 57) Military Officer - August 2007 - A Different Path (Page 58) Military Officer - August 2007 - A Different Path (Page 59) Military Officer - August 2007 - A Different Path (Page 60) Military Officer - August 2007 - A Different Path (Page 61) Military Officer - August 2007 - A Different Path (Page 62) Military Officer - August 2007 - A Different Path (Page 63) Military Officer - August 2007 - Weird Science (Page 64) Military Officer - August 2007 - Weird Science (Page 65) Military Officer - August 2007 - Weird Science (Page 66) Military Officer - August 2007 - Weird Science (Page 67) Military Officer - August 2007 - Charge? (Page 68) Military Officer - August 2007 - Charge? (Page 69) Military Officer - August 2007 - Charge? (Page 70) Military Officer - August 2007 - Charge? (Page 71) Military Officer - August 2007 - Charge? (Page 72) Military Officer - August 2007 - Pages of History (Page 73) Military Officer - August 2007 - Member Books (Page 74) Military Officer - August 2007 - Member Books (Page 75) Military Officer - August 2007 - Member Books (Page 76) Military Officer - August 2007 - Member Books (Page 77) Military Officer - August 2007 - Information Exchange (Page 78) Military Officer - August 2007 - Information Exchange (Page 79) Military Officer - August 2007 - Information Exchange (Page 80) Military Officer - August 2007 - Information Exchange (Page 81) Military Officer - August 2007 - Advertising Index (Page 82) Military Officer - August 2007 - Advertising Index (Page 83) Military Officer - August 2007 - Advertising Index (Page 84) Military Officer - August 2007 - MOAA Scholarship Donors (Page 85) Military Officer - August 2007 - Sounding Taps (Page 86) Military Officer - August 2007 - MOAA Member Services (Page 87) Military Officer - August 2007 - Encore (Page 88) Military Officer - August 2007 - Encore (Page Cover3) Military Officer - August 2007 - Encore (Page Cover4)
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