How Long Does Bankruptcy Stay On Your Credit Report?

By MoneyBlueBook

According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), a consumer reporting company is officially permitted to list accurate negative information on a consumer's credit report history for seven years (7) and bankruptcy information for ten (10) years.

Information regarding a lawsuit or judgment against you can be reported for seven years or until the statute of limitation expires, which ­ever is longer. There is no time limit on reporting information about crimi­nal convictions, information that is reported in regards to a job application for a salary of more than $75,000 a year, nor is there a time limit on information reported because of an application for $150,000 worth of credit or life insurance. Thus, unless the reported information is otherwise determined and proven to be inaccurate, incorrect or downright fraudulent, negative information on your credit report can only be removed or marginalized through the passage of time.

It's the job and duty of the credit reporting agencies to store and maintain accurate information about consumers by collecting data from credit granters and public records, including bankruptcies, judgments, and liens. Potentially negative information or remarks, such as missed payments and most public recordations, generally remain on a personal credit report for 7 years, with the exception of Chapters 7, 11 and 12 bankruptcy filings, which remain for 10 years. Unpaid tax liens remain for 15 years while paid tax liens remain for 7 years. Positive information may remain on a report indefinitely, and paid-for closed accounts generally display for 10 years. Requests

By MoneyBlueBook

Have you tried out the Capital One Card Lab program from Capital One credit cards yet? It allows you to build your own custom credit card using a pretty nifty online gadget. This novel web based feature from Capital One represents a promising shift and emerging trend in the credit card business towards providing customers more control and choice over the credit card selection process - by allowing them to create and set the terms and conditions of their credit card rewards and promotional offers. This is a growing movement that I hope is ultimately picked up by the other top credit card companies like Citibank, Chase, American Express, and Discover as well.

While credit cards and financial services in general have a history and reputation of being dry, complex, and frequently confusing, Capital One's new Card Lab online tool tries to make the application and selection process more entertaining and engaging, while still staying informatively functional at its core. The company's improved workshop tool gives customers a glimpse at the future of credit card creation, personalization, and customization. Through its convenient Card Lab website, users and prospective customers are given full informational control of the online application cycle, as the site offers interactive tools that permit them to select from a menu of credit card interest rate terms and rebate rewards to build their own unique credit card program to meet their needs. By providing consumers greater control and manipulative access to all card variations and reward terms in a way that is accessible

By MoneyBlueBook

Most investors are familiar with superstar investment guru and easy going philanthropist Warren Buffett. How could you not? After all, he's the single richest billionaire in the entire world and one of the most influential value focused investors. While the wealth snapshot order has swapped places a few times, at least on this recent Forbes ranking of the world's richest billionaires, Warren Buffett is seated at the very tip of the money stacked totem pole, surpassing even Microsoft uber-geek and fellow billionaire, Bill Gates. But to label him a mere superstar investor would seem to dilute the sophistication of a man who spent a life devoted to a uniquely patient and value minded, get rich slowly type approach to building long term wealth. Warren Buffet is not your typical get rich quick financial motivator, but one who regularly preaches patience, with a keen eye for the undervalued potential of possible long term investments. The Oracle of Omaha, as Buffett is often fondly referred to today, is also the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, the corporate manifestation of his immense and massive self made wealth, despite otherwise living and practicing a life of true humility and frugality.

Despite his tremendous wealth, Warren Buffett is also one of the most generous financial figures in the world in terms of how much he has contributed and donated back to society through charitable causes. A few years ago, he gathered up the bulk of his $40 something billion fortune (at the time), and made the

By MoneyBlueBook

As regular readers of my personal finance blog may know, I'm an avid credit card user and like to discuss the strategies and tips I use to maximize the credit card rewards I earn. While it's certainly not everyone's cup of tea, adopting a responsible multi-credit card carrying approach has allowed me earn quite a bit of cash back income and frequent flyer airline miles from everything I purchase. Other than purchase rewards, credit cards also offer cardholders another very valuable and functional perk - the ability to make balance transfers and take advantage of balance transfer arbitrage. A key deference to the versatility and value of credit cards is the option to use special 0% balance transfer cards to perform a wide array of financial actions that benefit the cardholder. Such actions include the ability to help pay down debt by shifting high interest credit card loans onto 0% balance transfer offers to weather difficult cash-strapped financial times. Even for those blessed with an otherwise debt free lifestyle, balance transfer cards allow the clever arbitrage profit-seeking card holder to make money by taking advantage of special promotional rates.

Balance Transfers Allow You To Take Advantage Of Interest Free Loans For Debt Reduction and Credit Card Arbitrage Purposes

Balance transfer credit cards are key tools in my money management arsenal. Of course, the benefits are clearly tempered by the inevitable hazards. It's the classic opportunity that necessitates the walking of a fine line to chase higher risk rewards. To successfully navigate and perform a balance transfer

By MoneyBlueBook

Editor's Note: Thank you for your interest, these offers have expired and are no longer available.

I had lunch with my brother at an Asian noodle place a few days ago and the subject of money came up. Somehow our conversation turned to credit cards, which prompted me to pull out my wallet and enthusiastically display my collection of multiple reward credit cards that I use to make virtually all of my day-to-day purchases. I carry multiple cards for different purchase functions such as having a dedicated gas credit card, grocery credit card, dining out credit card, and an all purpose credit card not covered by other reward programs. My card strategy has always been to maximize my use of credit cards to get the most out of reward points and cash back offers. Not including the ones I regularly carry around, I also have a few other balance transfer cards sitting at home, having already tapped out their 0% APR offers with no other remaining reward deals to offer me as a card consumer.

I See Reward Credit Cards As The Way To Earn Lots Of Arbitrage Cash Back and Free Gift Rewards From Everyday Purchases

What can I say - I'm a big proponent of using credit cards and rarely resort to using cash, which I see as an old school payment system that will someday be phased out in favor of more efficient and sanitary card payment methods. Since I started maximizing my use of credit by carrying around multiple reward cards, I've been consistently earning more than $1,000 in purchase rewards and cash rebates every

By MoneyBlueBook

Back when I was in college, I knew absolutely nothing about filing my taxes. Yes, I was a college finance major at the time, but I don't recall learning anything practical about taxes, deductions, or income withholding in any of my classes - at least not anything involving the actual process of filing one's tax return. At the time I had a part time job working at a school computer lab making some extra money. Every week I received a pay check but I never paid it much attention. I barely knew what the numbers meant - wages and FICA, they were all the same to me - all I knew was that the government was taking a large chunk of my meager pay check every week, leaving me with only peanuts. Since I made so little at the time, only a few thousand dollars for two semesters of work, when it came time to file my taxes, I decided to try doing it myself. My parents weren't much help since they were living overseas and had expressed their wish for me to become more financially independent and self reliant.

Sometimes You Make Mistakes in Life - And Taxes Are More Prone To Errors Than Anything Else

Despite knowing next to nothing about taxes, I still somehow managed to file my income tax by following the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) instructions, albeit in bumbling fashion. This was before I started using free tax preparation solutions or utilizing electronic do-it-yourself tax preparation programs like