Financial Literacy Credit Card Information
University of Wyoming – Delta Alpha Chapter
10/26/2009
Credit Cards
• What to look for in a credit card?
• An attractive credit card will offer low interest rates, rewards (such as cash back, points to purchase merchandise and airline, cruise, etc. miles), no annual fees, and a fraud protection program.
• What is a fraud protection program?
• A fraud protection program offers a 0% liability on unauthorized purchases.
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Credit Cards
• What to avoid in a credit card?
• It is important to avoid annual fees or membership costs for rewards, rewards that cost too much money, and variable interest rates.
• What is a reward program that costs too much?
• An airline rewards program that cost $100 annually and requires you to charge $20,000 worth of purchases to earn a roundtrip flight is a program that is not valuable to a credit card user that does not spend $20,000.
• What is a variable interest rate?
• A credit card with a low introductory rate that switches to a high interest rate after a certain time period or after a late payment.
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Credit Card Debt
• How to get out of credit card debt?
• In order to get out of credit card debt, it is important to control your spending habits and avoiding more debt. This can be done by making a budget and seeing where you can cut expenses that can be put towards the debt. The more expenses you cut and put towards paying off your debt the faster you will eliminate the debt.
• See the budgeting guide for more help.
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Credit Card Debt
• What will paying more than my minimum payment do to my debt?
• Paying only the minimum payment on $5,000 of debt will take over 26 years to pay off, whereas paying twice the minimum payment on $5,000 of debt will take over 11 years to pay off. • Use this link to customize your credit card payment. Credit Card Payment Worksheet
• Which cards should I pay off first?
• Pay off the credit card with the highest interest rate first.
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Credit Cards
• Where can I find other helpful information on credit card debt?
• Debt Calculator
• • • http://www.bankrate.com/brm/calc/creditcardpay.asp http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=1921876&page=1 http://www.salary.com/personal/layoutscripts/psnl_articles.asp?tab=ps n&cat=cat011&ser=ser035&part=par245
• Tips to Get Out of Credit Card Debt by ABC News • 12 Ways to Get Out of Credit Card Debt by salary.com
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Credit Card-Tips
• The average student credit card debt is around $2,800.
• Don’t become another statistic
• Try to only charge what you can afford to pay off at the end of the month. • Interest rates, credit limits and other credit card features are not the same on all cards.
• Choose the right card for you
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For additional financial literacy information please visit the links below. Student Loan Information Savings Information
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Your opinion is important to us. Please use the link below and fill out a short survey for a chance to win a $50 Savings Bond. Survey
References
Rosen, D. (2001, April 16). How do I get rid of credit card debt? In Ask the Dollar Diva. Retrieved January 14, 2008. http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/dollardiva/20010416 Ivey, A. (2006). Drowning in Debt? 6 Tips for College Students and Recent Grads. In Young Money Blog. Retrieved January 14, 2008. http://www.youngmoney.com/credit_debt/get_out_of_debt/060830
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