Credit card companies have a lot of ways to entice people to sign up for their cards. It’s critical to read the fine print to ensure you really understand what you’re getting into. There are six basic ways these financial institutions can rope you into paying fees and make card benefits turn out to be less than you thought. Remember, it can be easy to misinterpret their sneaky marketing language. Here are pitfalls to watch for:
- Welcome Offers
- Reward Values/Redemption Options
- Annual Percentage Rate (APR)
- Card Protections & Benefits
- Fees
- Grace Period
When you consider signing up, watch for any time frames for required spending to get started. Companies assign different values to their reward points. A card may have differing APRs depending on things like balance transfers.
Some protections offered may not kick in until you’ve exhausted other protections like product warranties or homeowners’ insurance. Know if there is an annual membership fee. And remember, the grace period for payments is affected by the billing cycle. If a credit card offer sounds too good to be true, it probably has real pitfalls.
Your Retirement Should Be Fulfilling
You shouldn’t have to worry about being cheated out of the retirement benefits you were promised. That’s why here at Council of Seniors, we’re urging Congress to pass The SAVE Benefits Act. Due to insufficient cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs), the amount of $581 was withheld from seniors’ checks. We believe it’s time for that money to be returned.
Please sign our petition right away to start helping. Washington politicians have failed to make this a priority, disappointing the growing number of Americans expecting action.
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