Joshua Heckathorn

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Joshua Heckathorn

Joshua Heckathorn is a credit expert and has been featured on CNNMoney, FOX Business, Yahoo Finance, The Street, and many other national publications during the past twenty years.  He received a Bachelor of Science in Management (Finance) from Brigham Young University's Marriott School of Business and earned his MBA from Seattle University.

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Recent Blogs

Why Credit Counseling Won't Hurt Your Credit Scores

September 23rd, 2011 by Joshua Heckathorn

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption=" "]debtPhoto by Alan Cleaver[/caption]

It's a common misconception that entering a credit counseling program will ruin your credit scores.  Unfortunately, this misunderstanding scares thousands of consumers away from a service they could really benefit from using before their credit problems get out of control.

It's easy understand why a lot people believe this credit myth, since it makes sense that meeting with a counselor indicates you might be experiencing difficulty with your credit and need guidance.    If I were lending you money, like a credit card company does, that would worry me too.

Fed's Operation Twist Won't Affect Credit Card Rates

September 22nd, 2011 by Joshua Heckathorn

Federal Reserve The Fed didn't raise interest rates yesterday, but it did announce its next attempt to give our lumbering economy a much-needed kick in the butt. Dubbed "Operation Twist", the Fed aims to lower long-term interest rates by selling about $400 billion in short-term government bonds and then using that money to purchase longer-duration bonds like mortgage-backed securities.  The name stems from a similar Fed effort back in 1961 when Chubby Checker's song "The Twist" was at the top of the charts.  It kind of worked back then, so the Fed is hoping for the best this time around.

Ask Creditnet: What Credit Limit Will I Get?

September 16th, 2011 by Joshua Heckathorn

citi platinum select credit card Dear Creditnet: I have a FICO score of 725 and I'm trying to find a 0% interest credit card that will allow me to transfer $25,000 from other cards so I can pay off this debt over the next year or so. It looks like the Citi Platinum Select Card offers the longest 0% interest period at 21 months, but will I get a high enough credit limit for this to work? I make nearly $200,000 per year, so I assume that will help my chances.

Review of Southwest's Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card

September 12th, 2011 by Joshua Heckathorn

Chase pulled the plug last month on its popular 50,000 bonus point Southwest Premier card offer. However, As of Monday August 8th 2011, its replacement hit the market—the 25,000 point Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Plus credit card. This is a pretty standard offer from Southwest, so I wouldn't say it's anything to get too excited about. If you don't need the card right away so you can redeem the 25,000 points, you may want to try waiting for a better promotion to hit the market in the coming months. It could very well happen towards the end of the year or in early 2012.

Creditnet's Back to School Prepaid Debit Card Giveaway

September 7th, 2011 by Joshua Heckathorn

We're excited to announce the official launch of our "Back to School Fun Fund" giveaway this morning! Enter to win up to a $500 prepaid debit card from Creditnet.com.

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