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Nov. 6, 2009
Rabbi Berel Wein: Choosing to hear
JWisdom.com Zero to 1/60th: How to Empower An Hour with Gavriel Aryeh Sande (7 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick The mullahs' big week
Suzanne Fields A Fallen Wall for Fallen Man
Nov. 5, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet: Three scrumptious -- but simple -- butternut squash dishes
JWisdom.com Hidden Hints: Unlocking Faith & Prayer with Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz (10 minutes)
Nov. 4, 2009
Tom Hamburger and Kim Geiger: Should prayers be covered?
JWisdom.com When God played peacemaker With Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Nov. 3, 2009
Martin Peretz: Beware, Barack. Beware, Rahm. Beware, Axelrod
JWisdom.com Are you are closet idolater? With Sara Yoheved Rigler (10 minutes)
Nov. 2, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The Holocaust is now on Facebook
JWisdom.com Abraham's Strange Change With Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (5 minutes)
Oct. 30, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: Secret to Immortality
Caroline B. Glick Silencing dissent in America
Oct. 29, 2009
Lini S. Kadaba: Do tactics avert flu or reduce humanity?
JWisdom.com We Must Revamp our Religious Vocabulary With Gavriel Aryeh Sanders ( 10 minutes)
Oct. 28, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Atheists in Bubbleland
JWisdom.com Why what we wear impacts who we are With Rabbis Mordechai Becher, Menachem Golberger and Aliza Bulow ( 10 minutes)
Oct. 27, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The United Nations Is Outraged Again, Or: Department of Mideast Static
JWisdom.com The Science of Love With Rabbi Jonathan Rietti ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 26, 2009
The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Damaging disclosures with a twist
JWisdom.com Wisdom and Wonks With Rabbi Eytan Feiner ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 23, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: Are you ready for the ultimate pleasure?
JWisdom.com Watermark and oneness with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 4 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick Stop using limited powers in a way that expands our enemies' advantages over us
Oct. 22, 2009
Steven Emerson: Terror Cases Share Desire to Kill Americans
JWisdom.com No More More Family Fights --- Really? By Sarah Chana Radcliffe ( 5 minutes)
Oct. 21, 2009
Tonya Alanez: Holocaust denier sues survivor, calling Auschwitz memoir 'vicious lies'
JWisdom.com Meditating Jewishly: A Panacea for Success by Sarah Yoheved Rigler ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 20, 2009
Dennis Prager: Obama and Dalai Lama: Why Israel Worries about U.S. President
JWisdom.com Abraham was not religious By Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer ( 6 minutes)
Oct. 19, 2009
JWisdom.comWhy Good People Do Bad Things By Rabbi Eytan Feiner ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 16, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Perfect Number
JWisdom.com Hearing Voices By Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 5 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick How Turkey was lost
Oct. 15, 2009
Jeff Jacoby: Peace vs. the 'peace process'
JWisdom.com: Former MTV producer and stand-up comedian Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff: Taming a Control Freak (A VERY fast 15 minutes)
Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review

Six tips for overdraft-proofing your account

By Marshall Loeb


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | (MCT) Many banks and credit unions routinely allow debit and check transactions to go through even if there isn't enough money in the user's account. Then they slam their customers with overdraft fees, usually without a warning, at the time of purchase, claiming this "service" protects people from bounced checks and declined transactions.

If you have been on the receiving end of this practice, you know that a single $5 transaction can trigger a $30 to $35 overdraft fee, while a series of overdraft purchases in a single day can rack up hundreds of dollars in fees. The people most at risk are consumers who routinely have low balances or who don't monitor their account balances regularly.

If that describes you, MSN Money columnist Liz Pulliam Weston offers six ideas for things you can do to overdraft-proof your account:

  • Stop writing checks. They either clear too quickly or too slowly, says Weston. So those who write checks against money that isn't there - say, a day or two before their checks are deposited - are likely to bounce more transactions. At the same time, you have little control over when a person or business actually deposits your check, which can in turn delay the time it takes to clear. To avoid running this risk, use online bill-payment systems, which allow you to specify when the money leaves your account.

  • Don't trust your balance. The balance that shows at the ATM or on your cell phone may not include recent transactions or may be inflated by the amount of "bounce protection" your bank offers. To get a better idea of where you stand, you need online access to your account so you can check which transactions have processed. If you stop writing checks and use your debit card only with a PIN, as opposed to with a signature, you'll have fewer "pending" transactions to remember as well.

  • Create a "cushion." You'd be wise to make sure there's always at least a small cushion of cash in your account. Don't let your balance drop below $100, and keep at least $400 in your savings account for emergencies.

  • See if you can opt out. Some credit unions and banks will let you set up your checking account so that overdraft transactions are declined rather than processed. If you opt out, though, you really want to avoid writing checks or using signature-based debit-card transactions, since merchant fees on those returned charges are typically even higher than those from banks.

  • Set up true overdraft protection. Under that option, your bank links your checking account to a savings account, credit card or a line of credit. You'll probably pay an annual fee of $10 to $50 and you may also incur a small fee each time the overdraft protection is tapped, but the total is likely to be far less than you'd pay under bounce protection.

  • Sign up for alerts. Most major banks will alert you via e-mail or text message when stuff happens in your accounts: when your balance drops below a limit you set, for example, or when certain transactions post to your account. Such alerts, along with keeping a pad of cash in savings accounts, can help you transfer money into your checking account in time to cover pending transactions.

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© 2008, MarketWatch.com Inc. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

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