Category: Personal Finance

Veto Session to Convene in Jefferson City The Missouri General Assembly will meet at the Capitol in Jefferson City beginning Wednesday, September 10, 2014, for the annual Veto Session.  Legislators will have the opportunity to vote on overriding any of the 30 bills vetoed by Governor Jay Nixon after the regular legislative session ended in May. Consumers Council of Missouri is working to ensure that the veto of Senate Bill 694 be sustained should a motion be made to override it ...

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 2, 2014 Opinion By Tishaura O. Jones, Treasurer of the City of St. Louis One of my goals as treasurer is to create programs that will help improve the quality of life for St. Louis residents. That is why I’ve made financial literacy and empowerment my mission. Simply put, financial literacy is the ability to understand how money works. But financial literacy isn’t just about balancing your checkbook or knowing how much money you have in the ...

Mother Jones, March 17, 2014 The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the watchdog agency conceived of and established by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in the wake of the financial crisis, had a hard time getting on its feet. The GOP tried everything it could to hobble the bureau, but to no avail. Over the past couple of years, the CFPB has issued dozens of protections shielding consumers from shady practices by mortgage lenders, student loan servicers and credit card com ...

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 17, 2014 In theory, disclosing more information about fees was supposed to make 401(k) plans better. Two years after it imposed sweeping new disclosure rules, though, the Labor Department isn’t sure whether they’re working. Disclosure is helpful only if it is read and understood, and 401(k) documents can be extremely dense. “Some employers, particularly small businesses, may be having a hard time locating the required fee disclosures when the ...

Senate Bill 694 is Backdoor Boost to Payday Lenders As people of faith representing hundreds of thousand of signers of the initiative petition to cap interest rates on predatory payday loans In Missouri, a coalition of faith organizations* stands opposed to Senate Bill 694.  From the Torah to the Christian Gospel to Catholic Social Teaching, the teachings of religious traditions are clear: It is immoral to charge triple digit interest on consumer loans. Click here to see the ...

Families Move Up the Economic Ladder This report outlines our first year collaborations, successes and positive community impact of approximately $1.9 million dollars annually, based on average of $1,200 savings for each family who could otherwise spend on fringe financial services. BANK-On SAVE-Up St. Louis is the first initiative led by the St. Louis Regional Unbanked Task Force. It is modeled after the successful “Bank On” San Francisco program, which began in 2006 and in ...

St. Louis American, March 6, 2014 “St. Louis tops the nation in the number of minority households that are either unbanked or under-banked,” St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura O. Jones said Friday morning at an event her office hosted for the St. Louis Regional Unbanked Task Force. “We are also at twice the national average in overall unbanked households. These statistics are alarming, and they demonstrate an urgent need for financial education for our citizens.” We agree, and we c ...

A Phony Payday Loan Reform Bill. Because 1,950 Percent Is Not Enough St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 5, 2014 When a payday lending “reform” bill sails through the Missouri Senate and the payday lending industry doesn’t scream bloody murder, you can be sure of two things: One, it’s not really a reform. And two, the working poor are going to take it in the shorts. Again. Seriously, how much more do these guys want? Already the average payday loan in Missouri is for $306 and ...

St. Louis American, February 28, 2014 “When we educate and empower people to make better financial choices, we also strengthen our community,” St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura O. Jones said Friday morning at an event her office hosted for the St. Louis Regional Unbanked Task Force at the William J. Harrison Education Center, 3140 Cass Ave. The task force reported initial progress forged by its coalition of 20 banks with the treasurer’s office and a host of community-based institu ...

KMOV News Channel 4, January 30, 2014 Investigative reporter Chris Nagus confronts the man behind a debt collection scheme targeting people across St. Louis with harassing phone calls, threatening letters and unwanted visits from a phony business.  But it’s unclear whether the people actually owe any debt. Nagus caught up with the man behind the bogus business and learned he was using the St. Louis Prosecutor’s Office to get payment. Click here to see the report of this in ...