Maxed Out

[tabbycat31]

Has anyone ever read this book/seen the movie? I'm reading it now, and it raises some very good points.

[George23]

Who is in it?

[autoxer]

I've seen the DVD. It is eye opening & a little depressing at times, but very interesting.

[teafan62]

I read Maxed Out and was fascinated. It's about much more than credit cards. It talks about all kinds of credit plans and banking practices. I recommend it.

Our library doesn't have the DVD, and I'd like to see it. I might have to break down and go to Blockbuster.

[asmom]

I saw it and it was pretty awful the tricks some of the credit card companies use to prey on those who are not very credit savvy. I thought it was particularly heinous that Providian resorted to things like delaying the posting of payments.

It didn't really put any responsibility on the borrowers at all, and at least some of them were in those situations by their own bad decisions.

[tamip]

I've never heard of it, I think I'll check it out!!

~Tami

[southerngal8]

++question for asmom regarding Maxed Out

Hi,
I just read this post, and am not familiar with "Maxed Out", however I was very concerned when I saw the following post from asmom:

asmom:
I saw it and it was pretty awful the tricks some of the credit card companies use to prey on those who are not very credit savvy.
I thought it was particularly heinous that Providian resorted to things like delaying the posting of payments.

Out of the 6 credit cards I have, PROVIDIAN is one of them and it is the worst! My interest rate is almost 30%.
Can you tell me anymore about what Providian does? I do know that at least once I was charged a late fee and was suprised because I thought I had paid it on time.

I have another major issue with Providian, but I will explain in a separate post.

[disneysaver]

I saw the DVD and was very disturbed by it! I think it should be mandatory for all High School seniors (or anyone actually).

[asmom]

Hi,
I just read this post, and am not familiar with "Maxed Out", however I was very concerned when I saw the following post from asmom:

asmom:
I saw it and it was pretty awful the tricks some of the credit card companies use to prey on those who are not very credit savvy.
I thought it was particularly heinous that Providian resorted to things like delaying the posting of payments.

Out of the 6 credit cards I have, PROVIDIAN is one of them and it is the worst! My interest rate is almost 30%.
Can you tell me anymore about what Providian does? I do know that at least once I was charged a late fee and was suprised because I thought I had paid it on time.

I have another major issue with Providian, but I will explain in a separate post.

In the DVD, there was a couple of people who said that among other things, Providian was found to delay posting of payments so they could collect late fees and according to some former employees they even shredded checks! That segment was very small but I thought it was particularly heinous.

[HeartCarved]

I rented it last night out of curiousity and have mixed feelings about it.

Of course, I am appalled at the greed and blatant lying, cheating, and stealing credit card companies do to their customers, but I am also appalled at the complete lack of responsibility that was put on the borrowers themselves.

It was a heartbreaking documentary, especially when they were discussing suicide. I actually broke down in tears. Parents have GOT to start educating their children about this stuff! The schools aren't going to teach it, the credit card companies sure aren't going to teach anyone how to be wise financially. The responsibility lies with the parent! EDUCATE your teen about how easy it is to get into debt during your college years. If my parents had talked to me about money during my high school years, I probably wouldn't have gotten myself into a mess. My parents just did not discuss money. Ever.

All in all, it was a pretty good documentary, but it didn't address the greed and materialism that gets a lot of people (not all, but a lot) into extreme debt in the first place.

[SnoopyCool]

Wow... I need to go rent this and see for myself!

[humandraydel]

My parents just did not discuss money. Ever.

I agree with you that parents should really do a MUCH better job of educating. However, lots of parents don't teach their children about finances because they aren't in a good position either! I've heard many people say "my parents taught me how to be careful with money because I realized I didn't want to be like them!"

[Denvergirlie]

I have it on hold at the library, will watch it then

[BCHGRL]

The best thing any parent can do is to lead by example. If a parent is in debt, does it really matter what they say to their child if their behavior says something different? Parents need to stop worrying about outdoing and start thinking long-term about their children's futures.