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More than 12 million American families can't afford bank accounts. The rest of us are paying too much, especially if we bank at big banks. Meanwhile, in 2000 banks recorded nearly $72 billion in profits, narrowly missing a tenth straight year of new record profits. According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), deposit account and ATM surcharge fee income are important parts of those increased profits. |
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“There are government agencies that purport to regulate CPAs to some degree, but if you look behind the agency to the identity of the people who are controlling this profession, you will see that those people are largely CPAs making decisions that benefit and protect the CPA profession, rather than the public at large.” —Julianne D’Angelo Fellmeth, Center for Public Interest Law 1 |
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he most valuable thing we have is our good name. The most common reflection of our reputation as a trustworthy consumer is our credit report. Unfortunately, the information contained in our credit reports, which are bought and sold daily to nearly anyone who requests and pays for them, does not always tell a true story. |
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At the end of the year 2000, U.S. households were accruing interest on $574 billion of revolving credit card debt, or debt carried over to the next month rather than paid off entirely. The average household with a credit card balance carried revolving debt of nearly $10,000. A household making the minimum payments—commonly only two percent of the unpaid balance or $20, whichever is greater—on this debt would pay nearly $1,500 in interest just in the first year. Nationally, consumers pay interest of more than $87 billion annually on this revolving debt. Cardholders paying only the minimum balance accumulate interest on top of interest, paying far more than their share to credit card companies. |
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