When a loved one passes away, the last thing on your mind is their credit card bills. However, in order to protect the deceased's estate from additional charges, fees, or even identity theft, it's important to remember that your loved one's credit cards will remain open and active until you take the following three steps.

[caption id="attachment_1562" align="alignleft" width="255" caption=" "]Photo by dbking[/caption]

There's a lot of free credit scores floating around the Internet, but as I've written about in previous posts, none of them are actually credit scores that matter. Often advertised by the credit bureaus themselves, these scores may give you a rough estimate of where your true FICO scores stand, but that's about the only purpose they should serve.

If you ever want to know your real FICO credit scores, the ones the vast majority of lenders rely upon when assessing your credit risk, the best option has always been to purchase them directly from myFico.com. And while this is still the case, many consumers will now have a way to get a peek at their FICO scores for FREE.

Don't get too excited though—it's not as great as it sounds. Here's how things have changed.

One of the most common questions we receive from readers is "what's the best way to dispute errors on my credit report"? Contrary to popular belief, disputing online through the credit bureaus' websites isn't the best way to get results or document your efforts. It may be the the fastest, but it's certainly not the most effective route to take. If you want to make sure your dispute is not only taken seriously, but also well documented, follow these 3 easy steps the next time inaccurate information pops up on your credit reports:

In mid-May, I had an experience that made me think about the importance of being prepared for the worst.  I live in Bangkok with my wife and infant son.  We moved back here a couple of years ago because my work focuses on Asian markets. Of course, we also wanted to live in a cheap, stable, tropical paradise.

[caption id="attachment_1486" align="alignleft" width="312" caption=" "]Photo by Kevin Zheng Li[/caption]

It amazes me that a lot of people haven't heard of the CARD Act yet. Perhaps I'm just biased because I spend a lot of time reading financial sites, but it seems like the CARD Act is one of those laws that's received an extensive amount of media hype since it was passed last year. How could anyone completely miss it?

I do happen to come across a friend or relative who knows what the CARD Act is from time to time, and when I do I like to ask them what change they think will matter the most to their wallets. Surprisingly, the general response is the same in almost every case—"no more interest rate increases on existing balances."