Is anyone out there? Aren't you floored by what our government has been allowing banks to do? What about government protecting the "little man?" After my rant about overdraft fees (see my last post) I have Googled and Yahooed, etc. and found lots of chatter about this...

From CNNMoney: (http://tinyurl.com/mlonw5) "Overdraft uproar. A report last month from Moebs Services said U.S. banks will collect a record $38.5 billion in overdraft fees this year, with nearly all the revenue paid by just 10% of customers. The windfall is nearly double the $19.9 billion collected in 2000, as overdraft fees tick higher despite the recession.

The Moebs report said the national median overdraft fee rose to $26 from $25 in 2008, while larger Wall Street banks charge a median of $35."

Now, in articles it talks about how Bank of America and JP Morgan are reducing fees. Wow! Aren't they great guys?! The idea that the underserved population has been duped into using check cards that don't bounce, only to be charged $35 for buying $20 worth of groceries is appalling.

I noticed that Bank of America is now saying you can "opt-out" of the ability to buy stuff with no money in your account. Opt-Out? Don't you think it should be to "Opt-IN" to this ability. They know that most people won't even know they can "Opt-Out" to getting hammered with overdraft charges.

Come-on America... if government will not regulate these predatory practices, can we trust that they will control health care costs? Sure we can!

Check Card Dirty Little Secret

I am "madder than hell and not going to take it any more!" (Network, Albert Finney) I have encouraged my 87 year old mother to use her check (debit) card rather than credit cards for most purchases. She doesn't purchase much, but does use her card at the grocery store, drug store, Walmart, Lowes and a few others.

I "manage" her bills online with Bank of America. Whow! I logged on over the weekend only to see 13 -- YES -- 13 overdraft charges at $35 each over a 10 day period. That is $455 in overdraft charges.

Yes, her account was overdrawn. Yes, I guess I should be checking her account online every day -- maybe twice per day!!! Yes, this practice is predatory and relates only to check cards.

This is how the little game works: Bank of America says that it is VISA's fault. They don't check balances on check cards so they allow virtually all check card charges to go through. Unless you go to a teller machine, you don't ever see a balance at the grocery store or anywhere else. If you don't check your balances daily (what 87 year-old does?) you get dinged $35 each and every time you use your card. With credit cards, your charge is denied, so you never pay an overdraft charge.

Now I understand why banks are encouraging people to use their check-cards. On WRAL the other night they had a story of a young soldier in Iraq who was dinged $1,750 in one month by Bank of America. He was buying cigarettes, lunch, groceries, etc.; and most of his charges were under $20, but each one dinged him for $35. This is an ugley little secret.

I don't think Bank of America is the only bank doing this. It is outrageous! It is predatory. It must be changed.

#1 Don't use your checkcards unless you are absolutely certain you have the balance to cover the charge.
#2 Set up overdraft protection (this will only cost you $10 per overdraft -- UGH! I am sure it might c0st the banks of of $0.01 per transaction to transfer funds from savings to checking. (My mother had plenty of money in her savings account.)
#3 Call you congressman and tell them this must be stopped.
#4 Call Obama and say this must be part of bank reform.
#5 If you see these charges, argue hard with your banker. You may get something back.

This is an ugley secret of banking. My own Suntrust banker told me she sees poor people using check cards to buy groceries, knowing full-well that they don't have the balance in their account to cover the charge, but they desperately need the groceries, so they accept the notion that they will be charged an extra $35.00. Ridiculous. You can't tell me that bastard VISA can't determine when to deny a charge. There is simply too much data available out there. This is predatory and must be stopped.

Your suggestions? Share your stories. Write your congressman. Tweet. Make Youtube videos about it.

Just imagine for one moment the amount of money the banks are making on this predatory practice: just imagine!!! And we bailed them out?

Scams and Trust

Today I am angry -- really angry! For only the second time in my life I ordered some merchandise from a banner ad on a legitimate website. It was for (oh my God) a new teeth whitening product. It was a great deal! $4.95 trial offer. The company is Pure Essentials, 181 Marsh Hill Road, Orange, CT 06477 (877-546-0535)

14 days later I was charged $89 and one week later $93.95. Woah! That doesn't sound like a $5 trial.

I called the company only to get a "our company hours are 9:00 to 5:00 Monday through Friday. I called this morning, only to be told, "oh, you must not have read the terms of the trial offer..." I said, "obviously not, what font were they printed in and on what page of your offer?" There was no answer.

I told the lady that if they did not refund all of my money I would Twitter, Blog, call every secretary of state and Better Business Bureau I could.

After making me three other "special deal offers" for as low as $29.95, she agreed to refund my money -- if I mail back the tubes of teeth whitener, return-receipt requested, watch my email, then call the number and give them my credit card so they can refund: likely 30 to 60 days.

I then called my credit card company and they told me that they have hundreds of complaints against Pure Essentials, Brite Teeth Pro.com and Cleanwhite.info. They suggested I follow the instructions and if I did not get a refund in 30 days to call them -- they will then turn it over to fraud.

No wonder consumers trust The Internet less and less. No wonder complete Opt-In is the way to go. Consumers need to not only feel they are in control, but they need to BE in control.

What a fool am I. I will likely get my money back because I am aggressive and angry, but I can't imagine how much money Pure Essentials is making off of fraudulant, bogus, sneaky promotions.

Have you been burned like this? Share your examples.

When is it a good time to buy a home?

It seems to me that many people get confused about good timing versus bad. They confuse what is going-on in the general market versus what is going-on in their own lives. When I was an investment officer at a bank in Florida in the 70's, I was amazed to learn that "the little guy" almost always "bought high" and "sold low."

What that meant was when the market was going up and up and up, consumers always were afraid to get in and then just couldn't stand not participating. They waited so long that they always bought at the peak, while the smart money always sells at the peak and buys at the low.

This often is the case in real estate. Think about Wrightsville Beach, NC from 2005 to 2007. Prices went up 5% to 10% per month during peak months. People were jumping all over themselves to get into the action. The wealthy and lucky made tremendous profits (at least on paper) while the late-comers (late 2007 through 2008) bought high. leverages themselves to the ying-yang and many have lost their shirts.

The market in most places, right now, is tepid and prices have declined. That doesn't mean a house that is not for sale will be worth less, but when inventories are high, foreclosures are still in the market and short-sales are still in the papers daily; trying to sell your home is really tough.

BUT, as prices decline and interest rates stay low, affordability goes way up.

So you have to look at your own personal situation: Is your job stable? Do you have enough to make a significant down-payment? Is there pressure to sell quickly?

Depending on these individual answers, it might be a good time to buy -- maybe not sell.

Think about your own situation first, then about the market. You likely will make a good decision.

Post Office is a dinosaur

If you read my posts I work hard to be positive. My blog is about decision-making with thoughts on how to make good decisions and comments on bad decision-making.

Having gone to the U.S Post Office on Shannon Rd. in Durham, NC twice today, I simply must exclaim my discontent with the always slow, always crowded, always perturbing postal service in that location.

If a business has customer who HATE to go there, the business is in trouble. In deciding what to invest in (stock market or otherwise), one simple suggestion is to invest in what you know. If you go to Target time and time again and always have a good experience, and you notice it is always crowded -- invest in it. (Which could mean buying their securities (stock) or buying their stocks (clothes, groceries, toys, etc.)

With the Durham post office, I HATE to go there. What should take 10 minutes always takes 20. When you actually talk to a postal worker they are most often quietly pleasant, but the system just plain sucks!

The cycle is set: Customer hate the post office. Customers use email, Facebook and Twitter to communicate. They use UPS or FedEx unless they have to by a stamp to addres a letter to grandma. The post office loses money. They cut services and raise prices. People hate them more, use them less and say bad things about them. They lose more money, raise their prices and lose more customers. Etc., etc., etc. . On-and-on-and-on....

Is this another example of the federal goverment and efficiency? Just imagine health care run like the post office. Ah, it is a glorious thought.

I want to make it clear. I have nothing against postal workers or the concept of the postal service. I still can't believe a letter gets from my mailbox to another one across the country in just a few days. But COME-ON! They took out a stamp machine, which a postal worker said was collecting $2,500 per week. Now you have to wait in line with 30 other people.

If they can 't get it right, they deserve to become a thing of the past.

Take a book to read!!!

Either the postal service gets it right or 5 years ago we will be telling our grandkids, "in the olden days your Grammy and I used to go to this thing called the Post Office to send packages at Christmas time. Those were the good old days.

Respectfully

Jeffrey M Johnston

Never Thought I was a Football Fan

I am a refined guy. I like the refined sports -- not the bare-knuckles and hard-hitting bruiser sports like football, rugby and boxing. Give me a splendid walk on Croasdaile golf course, the back-and-forth of tennis or the cerebral aspects of baseball.

But I must say that the mind's images of the sights, sounds and smells of fall football are pretty intense. I was eager to see NC State play South Carolina last night. I am eager to go to the Duke opening football game against Richmond and I was even invited to go to the Carolina game this weekend.

This all reminds me of why my wife and I chose to move to Durham, North Carolina 30 years ago. The spring and fall around here are incredible. Durham, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Cary, etc. are amazing places to raise your children and send them to public (or private) schools.

The nights are getting crisp and the start of football season creates great anticipation, for the fun of the sports and for the weather to come.

Ask Not What ....

I was watching Bill Moyers being interviewed last night and found him charming and insightful about the world of politics, the history and future of our great country and his laments about the directions this country is taking. He believes we very well may be headed "down the tubes" if we don't correct ourselves and become more "progressive." He believes Obama must use his skills of oratory to inspire citizens to take action to make The United States and the world a better place.

Mr. Moyers even quoted John F. Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." What a great, inspiring speech that was.

But it got me to wondering: What does "Ask Not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country" mean?

It seems that politicians today are all about telling "the people" what government can do for THEM. They are not conserving anything. They are spending, spending, spending; and telling the common citizen that the federal government will take care of them.

Is John Kennedy turning 0ver in his grave? How about a little sacrificing? What about balancing the budget by reducing expenditures, rather than escalating our deficit to $11 trillion? Current policy seems to be "cash for clunkers," "healthcare for everyone," "fight the 'right war,'" (not the wrong one), "bail-out money for auto companies and banks," increasing taxes on those bastard businesses that turn a profit and contribute to society -- and oh, by the way, preparing those lower income tax payers that eventuallly they will be taxed more because of all the great things the government is going to "give them."

Federal taxes will go up. North Carolina and other state taxes are going up. Let's have more lotteries and approve more gambling...

Ayn Rand was far from perfect in her theories of how governments destroy the incentives to be productive, but it sure seems we are headed in that direction.

If "Ask Not..." was a real call to action, let's as citizens call on our governments to conserve -- not spend like there is not tomorrow.