Monthly newsletter serves as an excellent guide to personal finance matters
It used to be that our personal finances were uncomplicated - a simple bank account, 30-year mortgage, company pension. That was then.
This is now: Our personal finances come with frustration, complication, and products that seem incomprehensible. There is so much information to grasp and so many scams to avoid that you need CliffsNotes for your money.
Well, as it turns out, there is the equivalent for personal finance. For the Color of Money Book Club selection for October, I’m recommending a monthly newsletter - Consumer Reports Money Adviser. The newsletter is published by Consumers Union, a nonprofit group that also publishes Consumer Reports magazine. The newsletter, which can’t be purchased at the newsstand, costs $29 for a 12-month subscription.
The typically 17-page newsletter covers a wide range of personal finance topics in short engaging articles - from credit to retirement planning to taxes. In every issue you’ll find regular money tips. You’ll find “savings and loans,’’ a feature highlighting the best rates for putting money aside or borrowing. Two of my favorite features are “Behind the Hype’’ and “Gimmicks and Gotchas.’’ Both expose the misleading ways companies try to get you to buy something.
I was particularly interested in a feature story in the current issue that evaluates which strategy is best for paying off credit card debt. The options, as analyzed by CRMA:
■ Pay off the card with the highest interest rate first. Mathematically, this option will result in the lowest amount of interest paid.
■ Pay off the card with the lowest balance first. You put the bulk of the money allocated for paying debt toward the card with the smallest balance while making minimum payments on other cards. When the smallest balance is paid, you then put your funds toward the card with the next lowest balance. This is the method I recommend.
■ Pay off the highest balance first. CRMA says borrowers with large balances have become especially vulnerable to having their credit limits reduced. By concentrating on credit cards that are maxed out or close to being maxed out, consumers work toward getting their balances below 30 percent of their credit lines, which boosts credit scores.
It’s important for consumers to find the most effective debt repayment method, the newsletter points out. It’s also useful for the many credit card holders who are receiving notices of hikes in their interest rates.
So which debt repayment method is best? “As long as you stick to it, any of the approaches we’ve highlighted here have merit,’’ CRMA found. “You can even change tactics midstream. I know this is an unusual selection for a book club, but I’ve been reading the newsletter for some time and think it’s a must-have to help you navigate the world of personal finance.
Michelle Singletary is a columnist for The Washington Post. She can be reached at singletarym@washpost.com. 
