Dad Joke
Dr. Frankenstein once entered a bodybuilding competition.
It soon became clear that he misunderstood the objective.
Now Let’s Make Your Money Smile
Stop waiting for interest rates to drop. I mean it — take it off your plan.
The Fed met on July 29 and held rates at 3.5 to 3.75 percent, which is the part everybody reported. Here’s the part almost nobody did: three people in that room voted to raise them. Not cut. Raise. Because inflation still hasn’t come down to where it’s supposed to be.
Think about what that means. The argument inside the Fed right now isn’t “how fast do we cut” — it’s whether rates should go up from here. So if your plan for that credit card balance has been “I’ll deal with it when rates come down,” you’ve been waiting on something that isn’t coming this year, and every month of waiting has a price tag.
Here’s your ten minutes today: call the number on the back of your highest-rate card and ask them to lower your APR. Not a hardship program, not a settlement — just ask. Say you’ve been a customer for X years, you’re carrying a balance, and you want a lower rate. They say no plenty. They also say yes more than people expect, because keeping you is cheaper than losing you. Worst case you’re exactly where you started, ten minutes later. That’s the best-odds phone call in personal finance and it costs you nothing but the asking.
Now the one I actually want you to remember.
A debt settlement company is being sued for cold-calling people who’d put themselves on the Do Not Call registry — United Debt Settlement, and I mentioned this case in one line a couple of weeks ago without explaining why it matters. It’s an allegation, no court has ruled. But it’s the hook for something I’d tell anyone:
Almost nobody who’s actually going to help you with your debt calls you first.
In thirty years I can’t think of one. And it isn’t a coincidence — it’s the math. Since 2010, federal law says a debt relief company that reaches you by phone can’t charge you a dime until it has actually settled or renegotiated one of your debts, you’ve agreed to that deal, and you’ve made a payment on it. Three conditions, all before any fee.
Sit with that. An honest operator can’t make cold-calling pay — they’d be fronting months of work with no guarantee of a dollar. So they don’t call. The ones dialing you already decided those rules don’t apply to them, which tells you exactly what kind of company just rang your phone.
You know who in your life picks up those calls.
While I’m here — something came through Ask Steve recently that I want you to know is possible, because most people don’t.
A spouse dies. The surviving husband or wife settles what has to be settled, grieves, and moves on. Then years later — years — a credit card that belonged to the person who died shows up again. New company, new letters, new phone calls, treating it like a live account somebody owes on today.
It’s called zombie debt, and it happens because old accounts get sold off cheap and resold again, and somewhere down that chain a buyer decides a widow is worth a phone call.
Here’s the part people don’t know, straight from the FTC: family members usually don’t have to pay a dead relative’s debts out of their own money. The debt belongs to the estate. There are real exceptions — you cosigned it, or you’re the spouse in a community property state, or your state makes spouses cover certain things like some medical bills — so this isn’t a blanket free pass. But “they’re calling me, so it must be mine” is not how this works, and the person calling is not going to be the one to tell you that.
If this lands on you: don’t pay anything and don’t agree that it’s yours until they’ve put the details in writing. They’re required to. And a single payment on an old debt can restart a clock that had already run out — which is sometimes the entire reason they’re calling.
One more, and it’s today’s: if a package shows up you didn’t order, don’t just shrug. The FTC put out an alert on it this morning. It’s a brushing scam — someone mails you junk so they can post a glowing review under your name. Free stuff from the universe, right? No. For them to do that, somebody had your name and address, and “somebody” usually means a breach nobody told you about. If there’s a QR code inside offering to reveal your mystery sender, that’s not a mystery, that’s a hook. Pull your credit report at AnnualCreditReport.com — it’s free every week, and you don’t need a reason.
If the cold-call thing landed, forward it to the person you were thinking of while you read it.
Nobody gets to tell you what to do with your money. Not me, not anyone. What I can do is hand you the same information I’d want if it were my name on that credit report or my card number sitting in a stranger’s inbox — what you do with it is entirely yours to decide.
And here’s the thing thirty years of doing this has actually taught me: none of what’s in this issue is a life sentence. A bad debt gets paid off or discharged. A bureau eventually fixes the file. A scam gets reported and you move on. People get out of situations like these constantly — not with a windfall, just with one honest look and one decision, repeated. If today’s issue felt heavy, that’s the part to hold onto on the way out the door.
Back tomorrow with more of what you actually need to know.
— Steve
Bonus Section
A few places I actually use, and what I get out of telling you. Each one shows a plain link and my referral link. If you use mine, the company may hand us both a small bonus. The plain link goes to exactly the same place — it just pays me nothing, and you nothing. Use whichever you like; genuinely, it’s your call.
I’ve also listed places I like that pay me nothing at all, so you can see the difference.
Cash that actually earns something
Betterment — their Cash Reserve account is the closest thing here to a plain high-yield savings account. (my referral link)
Saving without having to think about it
Acorns — rounds up your spare change and invests it automatically. I pay for it, and the reason is simple: it saves money I’d otherwise spend without noticing. (my referral link)
Investing
Robinhood — the platform I run my own experiment on. (my referral link)
And three I recommend on merit, where I get nothing at all: Vanguard for low-cost index funds, Schwab for a full-service brokerage, and American Century — I was a happy customer there for decades.
Rates and terms move, and each of these has its own conditions. Go look at today’s numbers before you move a dollar.
A free conversation about your situation
Damon Day is an independent debt coach, and my co-host on Get Out of Debt Guy. I want you to know that before you decide anything. I receive no payment for this referral.
The consultation is free. The only time money changes hands is if you decide you want to hire him as a consultant. Go to DamonDay.com and schedule — he doesn’t cold-call anybody, and neither do I.
Or ask me, anonymously
Ask Steve — free, private, and I’m not selling anything. No account, no email, no sales pitch at the end of it.