Dad Joke
I lit some fragrances in order to make my room smell nice. I think I overdid it, though. My neighbors banged on my door complaining that it stunk up the whole building.
They’re incensed.
Now Let’s Make Your Money Smile
Hi. It’s me. Your money.
I know. We don’t talk. You check on me at 11 p.m. with one eye closed, you swipe me at things, and on the first of the month you say my name in a tone. But Steve stepped away from the keyboard for one morning, so I’m taking it. Sit down. I’ve got a few things you need to hear from me directly.
Somebody took a man’s car to get to me. The state just took their license.
I’ve been through a lot. I’ve been left in a jacket, run through a washing machine, and spent a full year as a gift card in a drawer. This one still got me.
A Massachusetts debt buyer called Judgment Acquisitions Unlimited, its sister company Champion Funding, and their owner, Andrew Metcalf, are now permanently banned from collecting a dime in that state. The Attorney General’s office says they collected by seizing people’s vehicles — and, in the AG’s own words, to coerce payments on loans that had nothing to do with the car. Picture it. You owe on some old account. A tow truck shows up at dawn. Now you can’t get to the job where you were going to earn more of me. That’s not collecting. That’s a hostage situation with a lien.
Here’s the part to sit up for. Under the consent judgment announced yesterday, they walk away from roughly $52 million they were trying to squeeze out of more than 6,000 people. Certain court judgments can be vacated. Liens on people’s homes can be released. Seized cars go back. The office had already won two injunctions since it sued in February 2024. This shuts the door for good.
Why I’m telling you: you probably believe they can’t take my car over a credit card. Mostly true. Occasionally, catastrophically, false — it depends on your state and whether a collector holds a judgment against you. Massachusetts had to sue to make it stop, and I would not bet my life on your state getting around to it. So if a collector ever so much as mentions your vehicle, don’t argue on the phone. Write to your state Attorney General the same day. That’s the office that just did this, and they read those letters. I’ve watched.
You know somebody with an old collection account and a paid-off car they cannot afford to lose. Send them this today. If a collector ever threatens the car, the state AG’s office is the phone call — not the collector — and Massachusetts just proved it works.
There’s a file about me you have never read, and GEICO just paid $1.65 million over it
You know about your credit report. You may not know your insurer keeps a second one about me.
It’s called a C.L.U.E. report — Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange — and LexisNexis runs it. Every claim you’ve filed, and some you only asked about, lands in there, and insurers read it before they quote you. Wrong entry, higher premium, and you never see the number that did it. I do. I’m the one who leaves.
GEICO has agreed to pay $1.65 million to settle a class action alleging it failed to properly investigate and correct disputed information on customers’ C.L.U.E. reports after those disputes came through LexisNexis. GEICO denies wrongdoing; a settlement is not a finding. If you disputed something through LexisNexis between March 13, 2022 and May 1, 2026 and you’re in the class, about $150 of me arrives automatically — no claim form. Objection and opt-out deadline: October 20, 2026.
The bigger thing, whether you’ve ever touched GEICO or not: you’re entitled to see this file. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act you can request your consumer disclosure from LexisNexis — a few minutes, once a year, no charge. Do it before your next renewal, not after. I’ve been priced off a report you’ve never opened. I’d like you to open it.
I am not coming to you from Abbott. I’m sorry.
You saw the headline. Abbott, the formula maker, agreed to pay $384,999,040 to resolve allegations about formula from its Sturgis and Casa Grande plants that was bought with WIC and Medicaid dollars between 2018 and 2022. Yesterday state Attorneys General lined up to announce their slice — Oregon’s release does the math: $348.7 million to the federal government, $35.5 million split among 39 states.
Read that again. Governments. Not parents. If you fed a baby that formula, I know exactly what you assumed when a number with nine digits went by. Steve wrote the honest version yesterday and it hasn’t reached your inbox yet: No, the $384 Million Abbott Settlement Won’t Send You a Check — Here’s Why. It’s a recovery of public money over false claims — the government’s phrase — not a fund for families. Don’t wait up for me on this one. I’m not in it.
In Iowa, a little of me might actually come home
Iowa’s Attorney General announced yesterday that of the state’s $126 million Meta settlement, about $68 million has to go toward the harms in the lawsuit, and $25 million of that is to be returned to Iowans hurt by Meta’s practices aimed at children. Iowa says it’s the first state in that settlement to set up a restitution fund at all. No claim form yet, no deadline, no eligibility rules — the release announces the fund, not the process. If you’re in Iowa with a kid who lived on Instagram, put a sticky note on the fridge: watch for the Meta claim window. When it opens, some of me is in it.
The “raise” you’ll hear about on October 14 may not all reach me
The 2027 Social Security cost-of-living adjustment is expected October 14. Everyone on TV will call it a raise. For some of you it is. For some of you the Medicare Part B premium increase eats most of it before I ever land in your account — that’s the “hold harmless” rule, and it works differently depending on how you pay the premium. Steve explained the mechanism yesterday so January’s check doesn’t ambush you: The 2027 Social Security COLA Is Expected October 14 — And Medicare’s “Hold Harmless” Law. Four weeks to understand it before the number lands.
What Steve published yesterday
Two more from Monday that haven’t gone out by email, both worth your click:
870,000 People Are Barred From Future SBA Loans Over Suspected COVID Fraud — Here’s What It Means — and the Justice Department said yesterday the enforcement push behind it is expanding, not winding down.
I Paid a Fake Debt Collector and Now I Want My Money Back. Here’s What to Do Right Now — the other way a collector call goes wrong: the collector was never real.
If I told you one thing today you didn’t know, I’ll tell somebody you love one too. Forward this, or send them to yourmoneyactually.com. It’s free, and nobody sells their address. I checked.
Nothing here is advice for your specific situation. It’s what a friend would tell you across the kitchen table, and a good friend would also tell you to check the details against your own life before you act.
One more thing, and then I’ll give Steve his keyboard back. I’ve been inside a lot of wallets. The people who ended up with more of me were not the ones who earned the most. They were the ones who knew where I was, read the file with their name on it, and made the one phone call everybody else put off. You can make that call this week. I’ll be right here when you do.
— Steve, on behalf of your money
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)
Robinhood’s cash sweep pays competitively too. The good rate sits behind their paid Gold tier — I pay for it myself — so on a small balance the subscription can eat the gain. It’s under Investing below. Do the arithmetic before you subscribe.
And one where nobody pays anybody: TreasuryDirect is the government’s own site. You buy Treasury bills straight from the Treasury with no broker in the middle — $100 minimum, in $100 increments, terms from four weeks out to a year. There is no app, no bonus and no referral link in existence for it. I mention it because for money you know you won’t touch for a few months, it’s usually the honest number the others have to beat.
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)
And the version that costs nobody anything, me included: a standing transfer out of checking on payday, at the bank you already have. Acorns works because it moves the money before you notice it; a transfer you set once and forget does the same thing. If you’d rather not open another account, do that instead — I’d genuinely rather you saved something than used my link.
Investing
Robinhood — the platform I run my own experiment on. Uninvested cash is swept to FDIC-insured program banks, so it doubles as a cash account. The competitive rate requires their paid Gold subscription, which I pay for myself — worth it at my balance, but do the arithmetic on yours. And note Robinhood doesn’t pay that interest itself; the program banks do. (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 — you can also hear us on Spotify. 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.