Should I pay the statement balance or current balance on my credit card?

 There is a difference between your credit card’s statement balance and current balance—here’s how they both affect your interest charges and credit score.

Alexandria White

When you receive your credit card bill, you’ll notice two different balances: the statement balance and the current balance.

Conventional wisdom says that you should always pay off your statement balance within your grace period to avoid paying interest, but in contrast, we hear very little about the current balance.

But if your goal is to understand your billing cycle better and learn more about how your credit utilization rate affects your credit score, it’s helpful to break down exactly how the two amounts are different.

Below, CNBC Select reviews the differences between your statement balance and current balance and how both balances affect interest charges and your credit score.

Credit card statement balance vs credit card current balance

Before we dive into your statement balance and current balance, you’ll need to understand what a billing cycle is, since both balances relate to it. A billing cycle is the length of time, typically 28 to 31 days, between your last statement closing date and the next. 

Your statement balance is made up of all the charges you’ve made that have gone from “pending” to “posted” by the day your billing cycle ends. On the other hand, your current balance is the total amount of money you currently owe on your credit card, including your previous statement balance and any charges made thereafter.

So if you swiped your card on the last day of your billing cycle, the charge may still be pending when your billing cycle ends, and it would be rolled into the statement balance for the next billing cycle. Once the transaction posts to your account, you would see it reflected in your current balance, but not in your previous statement balance.

You can find both balances when you log in to your online account. Your statement balance will also be printed on your monthly credit card statement.

These two balances may be the same or one may be higher than the other, depending on the purchases you make.

For example, let’s say you spent $500 during a billing cycle, then another $50 after your cycle ends. When you receive your credit card statement, your statement balance will be listed as $500. And if you check your online account, your current balance will be $550. In this case, your current balance ($550) is higher than your statement balance ($500).

Then, if you make a $500 payment, your statement balance would be paid off, leaving you with a $50 current balance. As long as you paid off your previous statement balance in full, you won’t be charged interest for the amount that remains  — but you will need to pay it by your next due date.

Pay your statement balance in full to avoid interest charges

In order to have your account reported as current to the credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) and avoid late fees, you’ll need to make at least the minimum payment on your account. But in order to avoid interest charges, you’ll need to pay your statement balance in full.

If you pay less than the statement balance, your account will still be in good standing, but you will incur interest charges. You can avoid paying interest temporarily with an intro 0% APR card, like the Wells Fargo Cash Wise Visa® card or the Capital One® SavorOne® Cash Rewards Credit Card.

Whether you pay the statement balance off in full or only pay the minimum, you can set up autopay to ensure you don’t miss a payment or hurt your credit score, which we discuss next.

How balances affect your credit score

Credit card issuers typically report your statement balance to the credit bureaus monthly, but if you have multiple cards with different issuers, you’ll likely have credit card balances reported at various times throughout the month. While most card issuers report your statement balance instead of your current balance, you should double check by calling or messaging your card issuer about which balance they report.

The balance that’s reported to the credit bureaus appears on your credit report and can affect your credit utilization rate, which is the percentage of your total credit you’re using. The higher your balance, the higher your credit utilization rate, which can lower your credit score.

To find your credit utilization rate, divide your total balance by your total credit limit. For example, if you have one credit card with a $1,000 balance and $5,000 credit limit, your utilization would be 20%

Here’s the math: $1,000 / $5,000 = 0.2 x 100 = 20% 

In order to maintain a low credit utilization rate, consider reducing your spending or making periodic bill payments throughout your billing cycle so you have a lower statement balance. The lower your statement balance, the lower your credit utilization rate, which can improve your credit score.

Information about the Wells Fargo Cash Wise Visa® card and Capital One® SavorOne® Cash Rewards Credit Card has been collected independently by CNBC and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of the card prior to publication.

Source : cnbc.com

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Mark Cuban on $600 stimulus checks: ‘It’s not enough’ – and experts agree

 Taylor Locke

@ITSTAYLORLOCKE

After months of anticipation, Congress passed a $900 billion coronavirus relief package on Monday, which includes a $600 stimulus check for individuals earning up to $75,000 and couples earning $150,000 – down from the $1,200 distributed in the first round as a result of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security, or CARES, Act.

The bill also provides an extra $300 in enhanced unemployment benefits for 11 weeks, funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and emergency rental assistance, among other provisions.

But the slimmed stimulus check was disappointing for many Americans. Count among them self-made billionaire Mark Cuban.

“It isn’t enough,” Cuban, investor on ABC’s “Shark Tank” and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, tells CNBC Make It.

In fact, in September, Cuban offered his own stimulus proposal, saying that all American households, regardless of income level, should receive a $1,000 stimulus check every two weeks for two months, which they would have to spend within 10 days or lose the money.

(At the time, Chuck Marr, senior director of federal tax policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told CNBC Make It that Cuban’s plan reflected “the urgency of the situation,” but payments should be targeted by income.)

With the most recent stimulus, economists agree that the $600 checks fall short, because it will not be enough to cover months of missed rent and mounting bills.

“It’s critical to have cash, particularly in those pockets that are already empty, and we’ve seen many households already running out of fumes,” Diane Swonk, Grant Thornton chief economist, told CNBC on Monday. “The $300 [in enhanced unemployment benefits] sustains families more than the $600 checks do.”

Others also openly criticized the $600 checks, like Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey.

″$600!?…of fiat!?” Dorsey tweeted on Sunday, and when the relief bill passed Monday, he added, “Incredibly disappointing and increasingly irrelevant.”

Kevin O’Leary, Cuban’s fellow investor on “Shark Tank,” previously advocated for additional unemployment insurance benefits over stimulus checks, proposing $400 per week for 14 months.

“I don’t want [those unemployed] to be in a great, painful space,” he told CNBC Make It in October.

All in all, “we’re trying to bridge a very long Covid-tainted waters river, and unfortunately, [the new stimulus package] gets us only part of the way there,” Swonk said. “We’ll look back on this and we’ll not wonder if we did too much – we’ll ask ourselves why we didn’t do more.”

Source : cnbc.com

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‘Grey’s Anatomy’ star Ellen Pompeo explains why she chose to ‘make money’ instead of pursuing a more diverse career

 Emmie Martin

@EMMIEMARTIN

For Ellen Pompeo, the decision to continue to play Dr. Meredith Grey on ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” for 15 seasons and counting has largely been a practical one. 

“I made a decision to make money,” Pompeo said on an episode of Spotify’s “Jemele Hill Is Unbothered” podcast, first reported by People. 

Pompeo, 50,  made a choice to put her family first instead of pursuing a more diverse and creative career. “For me, personally, a healthy home life was more important than career,” she told Hill. “I didn’t grow up with a particularly happy childhood. So the idea that I have this great husband and these three beautiful children [and] a happy home life was really something I needed to complete.”

“Grey’s Anatomy” has been a lucrative role for Pompeo. She’s one of the highest-paid women in Hollywood, earning more than $20 million a year, according to The Hollywood Reporter. During season 14, she negotiated a deal for $575,000 per episode, a seven-figure signing bonus, producing fees and back-end equity, among other perks.

It was a groundbreaking moment for Pompeo, who spent years fighting to earn as much as her male co-stars. In one instance, she asked to be paid $5,000 more than Patrick Dempsey, who played Grey’s husband on the show for 11 seasons, on principle, since she was the titular character. The studio turned her down. 

“For me, Patrick leaving the show [in 2015] was a defining moment, deal-wise. They could always use him as leverage against me — We don’t need you; we have Patrick — which they did for years,” she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2018. 

Pompeo didn’t originally plan to stay on the show for very long. In fact, when her agent brought her the script for “Grey’s,” she balked. “I was like, I’m not going to be stuck on a medical show for five years,” she said. “Are you out of your f------ mind? I’m an actress.”

But when “Grey’s” became an immediate hit, Pompeo realized she wasn’t going to find a better deal anywhere else. And she’s OK with that. 

“I knew coming up on 40, I don’t want to be out there chasing things, running after things, begging,” she told Hill. “I’d rather just see this as the blessing that it is.”

Source : cnbc.com

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The antitrust lawsuits against Google just keep coming

 By Brian Fung, CNN Business

(CNN Business)Google is now facing its third antitrust lawsuit.

As many as 38 state attorneys general filed the latest suit against Google Thursday. The suit alleges that the company has operated an illegal monopoly in the markets for online search and search advertising.

The lawsuit is being led by eight states: Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee and Utah. It mirrors an earlier antitrust suit filed by the Justice Department and 11 states earlier this fall that claimed Google uses anticompetitive agreements to secure a dominant position for its search engine on smartphones.

But it also goes further, tacking on additional allegations that Google moved to block or downrank search results from specialized engines in the travel, home improvement and entertainment sectors.

"The states also allege that Google's acquisition and command of vast amounts of data obtained because of consumers' lack of choice has fortified Google's monopolies and created new barriers to competition and consumer value," said a release from the office of Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement: "For decades now, Google has served as the gatekeeper of the internet and has weaponized our data to kill off competitors and control our decision making — resulting in all of us paying more for the services we use every day."

Google didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Thursday's lawsuit opens up vast new fronts against Google by going after other parts of its operation that were either skipped or minimally addressed by the Justice Department suit, legal experts say.

The new complaint highlights how Google's alleged decision to prioritize its own services at the expense of rival websites that also provide search — which could include sites such as Hotels.com or Angie's List, said David Dinielli, a former Justice Department antitrust official and a senior adviser at the Omidyar Network.

The outcome appears to harm consumers and small businesses, Dinielli said.

"If you are a hotel in Taos, you can't rely on the fact that you have good ratings on Hotels.com or that there was an article that mentioned you in Travel & Leisure, because Google has decided to monetize the vast majority of the first screen of search results," Dinielli said. "The only way you can reach the customers you want to reach are to pay Google to ensure you are on that first screen as an ad, rather than as an organic result."

As part of Thursday's suit, the states behind the complaint are also moving to merge their case with the Justice Department's.

The lawsuit comes a day after Texas and nine other states sued Google alleging anticompetitive practices in the advertising technology industry.

The coalition is currently reviewing the complaint filed by Texas, according to a person familiar with the matter, but no decision has been made about whether to participate in that case.

Source : cnn.com

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Warren Buffett recommended these 4 books to learn about investing

 Taylor Locke

@ITSTAYLORLOCKE

A few years ago at a dinner, Trey Lockerbie, founder and CEO of kombucha company Better Booch, met billionaire Warren Buffett. He took the opportunity to ask him a few questions about investing, Lockerbie said on “The Good Life” podcast with Sean Murray on Dec. 14.

Lockerbie, who was at the time an avid options trader (a more risky method of investing in which a trader can bet on which way the market will swing), asked Buffett whether books by Benjamin Graham, who was Buffett’s mentor, were somewhat outdated. Graham wrote “Security Analysis” in 1934 and “Intelligent Investor” in 1949.

Buffett — widely regarded as the best investor alive — has used the same strategy of value investing taught by Graham for decades. So Buffett suggested that Lockerbie reread Graham’s books and focus on the chapters about the psychology of investing, Lockerbie said.

In addition, Lockerbie told “The Good Life,” Buffett recommended he read two books by the late economics commentator George Goodman, who wrote under the pen name “Adam Smith.”

Here are the books Lockerbie said Buffett recommended.

Books by Graham

“Security Analysis”

Written by Columbia Business School professors Graham, the father of value investing, and David Dodd, “Security Analysis” highlights the basis of value investing, or buying stocks and holding them for a long period of time.

The book had a big impact on Buffett – in fact, after he found out Graham and Dodd taught at Columbia University, Buffett contacted Dodd and asked to be admitted for classes there.

“I said, ‘Dear Professor Dodd. I thought you guys were dead, but now that I found out that you’re alive and teaching at Columbia, I would really like to come,’” Buffett said in HBO’s “Becoming Warren Buffett.” (Buffett got his Master’s there.)

“Intelligent Investor”

Buffett has recommended “Intelligent Investor” countless times.

After all, “my financial life changed with that purchase [of ‘Intelligent Investor’],” Buffett wrote in his 2013 letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders. “Ben’s ideas were explained logically in elegant, easy-to-understand prose.” 

The book offers a deep dive into the process of value investing.

“Of all the investments I ever made, buying Ben’s book was the best (except for my purchase of two marriage licenses),” Buffett said in 2013.

Books by Goodman (aka Smith)

“The Money Game”

″[Goodman, aka Smith], especially in ‘The Money Game,’ was incredibly insightful, and he knew how to make the prose sing as well,” Buffett told The Wall Street Journal in 2014.

In “The Money Game,” which was published in 1968, Goodman argued that the stock market should be viewed as a game and wrote of the frenzy of Wall Street in the ’60s as an example.

“He knew how to put his finger on things that nobody had identified before. [Goodman] stuck to the facts, but he made them a helluva lot more interesting,” Buffett said.

“Supermoney”

Published in 1972, “Supermoney” highlights the stock market in the ’70s and even profiles Buffett himself.

“In this book, Adam Smith says I like baseball metaphors. He’s right,” Buffett wrote in a forward to the book.

“So I will just describe this book as the equivalent of the performance of [New York Yankees’] Don Larsen on October 8, 1956. For the uninitiated, that was the day he pitched the only perfect game in World Series history.”

Source : cnbc.com

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