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  • Why You’re Paying So Much for Your Credit Card

    By Marlys Harris | Feb 1, 2010 | 0 comments

    Even though the prime rate is only 3.25%, you're still paying through the nose for your credit card.

  • Foreclosure: It’s Not Just about the Mortgage

    By Marlys Harris | Jan 15, 2010 | 2 comments

    The underlying causes of foreclosure are more likely to be medical than financial.

  • More Lobbying Equals Lousier Lenders

    By Marlys Harris | Jan 10, 2010 | 0 comments

    An IMF report finds a correlation between Wall Street's high spending on lobbying and riskier investments which in turn led to higher mortgage default rates plummeting bank stock values during the financial crisis of 2007-08.

  • American Express v. Courtney Love and Vice-Versa

    By Marlys Harris | Jan 6, 2010 | 2 comments

    American Express says that rocker Courtney Love owes them $352,060. That was back in May. Now in a countersuit, she claims that the company issued 104 cards that she never wanted or applied for. Who's the victim here?

  • A Free Ride for Business Under Health Reform

    By Marlys Harris | Jan 4, 2010 | 4 comments

    The Senate's version of health reform allows many employers get out of their obligation to provide insurance by exempting part-time workers or depressing wages.

  • 7 New Year’s Resolutions for the Bad Guys

    By Marlys Harris | Dec 31, 2009 | 2 comments

    Why should you make New Year's resolutions to improve your finances when bankers and corporate chieftains were most likely the ones who ruined your security. So I've written some resolutions for them.

  • Get Really, Really Rich: Form a Non-Profit

    By Marlys Harris | Dec 22, 2009 | 0 comments

    Proof that you can start a nonprofit and rake in huge amounts of money while skirting IRS rules can be found in the story of the founder of a North Carolina credit-counseling company who enriched his family and retired with a $5.1 million pension.

  • The FTC Says “No” to a Negative Option Fraud

    By Marlys Harris | Dec 7, 2009 | 4 comments

    Hooray! The Federal Trade Commission is finally cracking down on companies that rely on negative option marketing to make their sales. Negative option deals, as you already know, take your silence as a “yes” and then bill you forever for something you probably didn’t want in the first place. Here’s how it works. You sign [...]

  • Why Cash4Gold Is a Lousy Deal

    By Marlys Harris | Dec 3, 2009 | 4 comments

    The fact is that even if Cash4Gold kept perfect track of every last piece of jewelry and sent out every check on time, the return on your gold would be barely enough to take your family out to dinner -- at MacDonald's.

  • Stop the Anti-Anti-Aging Tax Now or Suffer Wrinkles

    By Marlys Harris | Nov 24, 2009 | 2 comments

    Buried in the Senate’s health care bill is a provision that will slap a 5% excise tax on plastic surgery and other cosmetic procedures including tummy tucks, botox injections, face lifts, nose bobs and even teeth-whitening.(The law won’t apply to surgery for a deformity or injury.) The “botax” is supposed to raise $6 billion or so over the [...]

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Marlys Harris

Marlys Harris has been covering personal finance at least since the time of the Pharaohs, first in 12 years at Money and then as finance editor at Consumer Reports. She has written and edited stories on just about everything having to do with money, from workers comp to marrying for money.

Marlys Harris

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