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CEO & Co-founder
Andrew started his career at a Chicago hedge fund and quickly noticed a problem: the people who most needed financial guidance weren’t getting any. He co-founded Money Crashers in 2009 to fix that with free, plain-language money education. He’s been interviewed by MSNBC, CBS News, NBC News, and Fox News, and featured in Forbes and US News & World Report. Off the clock he plays ice hockey and tennis, and meditates. Andrew holds a bachelor’s in economics from Brown University.
Under the credit bureaus’ own rules, a medical collection shouldn’t appear on your credit report if you’ve paid it, if its original balance was under $500, or if the bill is less than a year past due. If one appears anyway, dispute it with each bureau that lists it, and attach proof it breaks the rule.
To finish your car loan ahead of schedule, set autopay a little above your payment and tell the lender to apply the extra to principal, the balance you still owe. Most car loans charge interest only on that balance, so each extra dollar cuts the interest on every later payment. Check that yours does.
When your credit card gets declined at checkout, check your phone and your card issuer’s app before calling or trying another card. A fraud alert waiting on your reply, a lock left on, or too little available credit usually shows up there. Fix what you find, run the card again, and call only if nothing looks wrong.
If you carry both a mortgage and student loans, put extra payments toward whichever charges the higher rate after taxes, not the bigger balance. Skip federal loans you expect to have forgiven, since extra payments only shrink the forgiven amount, and leave a low-rate mortgage on its regular schedule.
A credit card denial isn’t always final. The letter the issuer must send gives the reasons or tells you how to ask for them, so read it first. Then call the issuer’s reconsideration line within a few days and answer those reasons directly, because a second look by an analyst can reverse the decision.
Debt shame makes you hide what you owe, and hidden debt grows when missed due dates bring late fees and, once a payment is more than 60 days late, can raise your interest rate. End the secrecy this week with two moves. Open every statement and tell one person you trust exactly what you owe.
An annual fee card pays off only when the rewards and credits you’d use anyway, minus the fee, beat what a no-fee card would earn on the same spending. Before you apply or renew, value each credit at what you’d pay for it in cash, then run that comparison.
Check the rate SoFi would give you on a personal loan if your credit is strong and you need $5,000 or more quickly. Its origination fee is optional, funding can arrive the same day, and banking with SoFi trims your rate. If your credit is fair or you need a smaller loan, compare other lenders first.
Marrying, moving out, finishing school, or taking a job with benefits doesn’t end your child’s place on your work health plan, because federal rules keep them eligible until 26. Before an adult child switches to a spouse’s or employer’s plan, compare what keeping them on yours costs with what the new plan would cost them.
If you can’t cover your bills and debt payments without borrowing more, whether that’s a card for groceries or one card used to pay another, you have too much debt. Stop adding to it, list every balance with its rate and minimum payment, and call your lenders before you miss a payment.
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