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Years ago, a company called eFunds invented a service called Chex Systems and started offering it to banks. Think of it as the FICO scoring system of the banking industry. Except, unlike FICO (i.e., credit) scores, Chex Systems is not a scoring system. Rather, the mere appearance of your name in this database can mean instant rejection of a new checking account application.

If you show up in Chex Systems, most banks reviewing your application look into the matter no further and just flatly reject your application. That is, they automatically assume that you must be a big credit risk and they refuse you a new checking account.

Showing up in this banking risk assessment system can have a number causes. Everything from some sort of bank fraud to debit/credit card abuse can be factors. And, your name can stay in Chex Systems for years, making it incredibly hard to be approved for a new checking account by any bank. Continue reading ‘Consumer Banking Tips – Listing of National Non Chexsystems Banks’ »

They’re ambitious, demanding, and they question everything. Generation Y have hit the workforce whether we like it or not and they are out to change the world. To understand Generation Y, you have to understand their baby boomer parents. Parents of Generation Y grew up in an era when to succeed, you had to work hard and there was never quite enough money to go around. They wanted a much better life for their own children. Hence, Generation Y have been pampered, nurtured and given everything they need and more for a comfortable life. They are not used to doing without. They don’t know the meaning of struggle and hardship. Dripping with fashion accessories such as iPhones and laptops, they are leaving university in debt and with a burning desire to live it up now that they are earning. You can’t fool them with money – they know exactly what they are worth in salary and they expect it to be a high number to support their lifestyle and pay off their debt. With information at their fingertips, they are highly productive – they know how to work smarter, not harder – but they are broke.

Generation Y are impatient. They have to have the lifestyle of their dreams now, not later. They are saddled with debt, so why not add more? While they are technologically savvy, they are financially illiterate. The education system hasn’t kept pace with the increasing complexity of financial products and the easy availability of consumer debt. Low savings, high spending and a lack of understanding of the consequences of being in debt mean that Generation Y may go from broke to even broker. Continue reading ‘Why Generation Y Is Broke’ »

There are, among the many things newly weds would learn with time, financial challenges that need to be overcome if the marriage is going to be a financial success. All too often financial strategy is not something considered along with planning the events that lead up to the altar and takes a back seat until the festivities are over. However, preparing a financial strategy for after the honeymoon is as important, some would say even more important, than planning for the reception.

Traditionally, thinking about a financial strategy for newly weds takes place within the traditional box, and very little thinking occurs outside of that box. Traditional financial planning has to do with selling yourself for the best available price in your field in the job market. There is, of course, nothing wrong with that, until that way of thinking runs into traditional forces that govern the market place. Traditional places of employment can disappear under the impact of market forces, so that it becomes necessary to have in one’s mind some untraditional means of income that have nothing to do with breaking the law and/or harming others. Continue reading ‘Newly Weds and Financial Matters’ »