American Express Deals Bad Card
American Express Card users: Be sure to read the fine print.
Recent American Express monthly bills have been accompanied by what sounds like a terrific offer.
Cardholders who open a Special Purchase Account have the option of spreading some payments over time instead of having to pay them all off each month, as you typically do with an American Express card.
The offer applies to purchases of $350 or more.
“You decide whether to pay the minimum due, the entire balance or any amount in between,” says the letter. “As long as you continue to pay your Special Purchase Account in full you will accrue no interest charges.”
Some cardholders may interpret this to mean there are no interest charges so long as you pay the “minimum” due. Not so. You’ll be charged interest for any balance you owe after your regular billing date.
And it’s hefty interest - a minimum of 18.15 percent currently, or about 21 percent if your account has not been in good standing at any time during the last 12 months.
You can do a lot better.
If you want the option of paying off your card debts over time, look for another card that offers lower interest.
If for some reason you feel you need this added feature on your American Express Card - perhaps because these cards have no spending limit - use a different, lower-interest card to pay off the balances on the American Express Card.
$4 billion in bonds unredeemed
U.S. Savings Bonds worth more than $4 billion no longer pay interest to their holders, and the total is mounting.
As of Thursday, the first set of bonds issued between October 1970 and 1977 reach maturity and cease earning interest.
Four more sets of bonds mature each month. They include 40-year-old Series E bonds and 30-year-old series H and E bonds, the latter those issued after December 1965.
Dan Peterson, author of “U.S. Savings Bonds: A Comprehensive Guide for Bond Owners and Financial Professionals,” said the federal government saves $200 million annually in interest costs on the unredeemed bonds.
He estimated the value of matured but unredeemed bonds will reach $7 billion by the year 2000.
Bonds that don’t earn interest are no better than money buried in the backyard, said Peterson, who added than many consumers mistakenly assume the bonds never stop paying interest.
Healthy, wealthy - for free
Consumer Credit Counseling of Spokane will hold three free money-management workshops this month.
Participants in the one-hour sessions will be asked to set financial goals and identify the steps that will help achieve them.
Local businesses are sponsoring the free workshops.
The first will be held Wednesday, 5:30 p.m., in the conference room of the Tidyman’s store at Highway 95 and Neider in Coeur d’Alene.
Next Wednesday, two other sessions will be held in Cheney and Sandpoint, both starting at 6 p.m.
The Little Theater in the Cheney High School, 460 N. Sixth, will be the site of the former, the Elks Lodge at 314 N. Second the latter.
To register, call 327-3777 or 1-800-892-6854 and ask for the Education Department.
, DataTimes