KFI Updates Sunday, February 2, 2003: Bought Any Music CDs From '94 - '00? Find Out How To Cash In! [It's Free Money!] Plus: Avoid Stubbing Your Toe With Late Fees (What's This? Your Creditors Want You To Fail?)

Bought any music CDs over the last few years? Here's a way for you to make a few bucks...with no strings attached! The music industry said they weren't guilty of price-fixing, but because they're so gosh-darned generous, they decided to spend over $125 million in cash, CDs and legal fees. Read all about it and then click here to see how you can get your check. Looking for 5 TIPS to LOWER your insurance premiums?  [How about 5 Plus 7 Bonus Tips!]  If your auto insurance premiums have shot up, you're not alone...especially if you're insured by Allstate, Farmer's or State Farm:  Down and dirty, here are a few simple steps you can follow right now to drop your costs... Raise your deductible: Jacking it up to $500 or $1000 can save as much as 15-30% on your collision/comprehensive costs. Drop collision/comprehensive coverage on older cars [they've gotta be paid off, of course]; why over-insure an older vehicle? It may not be worth it. Keep your driving record clean. Duh. Ask about other discounts: If you load up all of your business with one insurance company, they'd better give you a "deal" or you'd better take your business elsewhere.  Other business includes homeowner's (or renter's), covering a second vehicle, a boat, etc. No deals? Then no deal! Take your dollars elsewhere. How old are you? Over 50 but under 65? Then you're a prime candidate for a discount. Ask and you shall have a chance at receiving! Gotta kid on your policy? Make them get good grades: A "B" average or better will get you a discount; if Junior won't hit the books, make 'em pay the higher premiums...maybe that'll instill a study-ethic they never knew they had! (Or they can hitch rides with friends, walk, ride a bike.....) What do you do for a living? If you're a teacher or have an advanced degree in engineering, math or science, statistics indicate that you're a lower risk. Ask for a discount. [Drug dealers and hookers probably shouldn't mention their professions if they're looking for lower rates.] Is your kid in college? Then knock 'em off your policy if you can. Make them get their own coverage, and watch how much your premiums drop.  [Life's a bitch when you're young and a risk in the eyes of the insurance company...but we all went through it, so tough luck.  That's part of growing up.] Pay for minor stuff yourself!!! Keep nickel-and-dime-ing your carrier and forget about higher premiums...they'll just flat drop you! Drive fewer miles: Commute in a carpool or public transportation and tell 'em about it. Lower miles = lower exposure. Pick a safer car: Sorry...no Ford Pinto owners need to apply. (Makes sense, doesn't it?) Anti-theft devices will earn you brownie points and lower premiums: Not car alarms...but devices that help the cops track/find/recover the car. You know...LoJack or the OnStar technology. Alarms are increasingly less-effective...surprise! Would you undress or shower in front of a camera in plain view? You might want to start treating cell phones with the same level of respect! You're not gonna believe why you could find yourself having your Cell Phone confiscated in locker rooms, bathrooms or secure areas around the world. Say cheese and read more about it..... I came across a little technique your creditors might be benefiting from that could set you up for late charges! I love how smart you guys are...here's an e-mail that proves it, and may save you some money on late fees for the rest of your life! "Just a heads up, Ben: I'm in the printing business, and suggest your readers/listeners/viewers pay special attention to how their credit card payment coupon is SUPPOSED to line up with the address window in the return envelope. Many times, the envelope is made incorrectly or the statement coupon is sized wrong. Either way, the return address is partially hidden, causing delays in getting the payment posted. Result? Late fees! I suggest ignoring their instructions to not staple through the check and the envelope. That way, the address is sure to stay visible. So what if it causes "extra work" on the part of the credit card posting department. If they want their money, let them do the extra work. This happened on a couple of major credit card company bills recently...and they're not alone. Keep up the great work. Sincerely, Greg via e-mail" Ben's Billing Bottom Line? Dilemma: You know the return portions of your credit card billing statements always tell you to not staple the envelope. I know all about their automated sorting equipment that opens our envelopes containing checks and payment coupons. But the Post Office has automated sorting equipment too...and if the return coupon doesn't line up through the little window in the envelope properly, your payment gets there late. And they get to pop you with another late fee! Solution? I'd never encourage you to staple their precious envelopes, but you might wanna make sure before you seal the envelope that the entire address is clearly visible through the window. If it's not? A little piece of tape will help keep it in place...or a staple if you're one of those thrill-seeking types that likes to really push the "envelope" [no pun intended] in life. (You know who you are: You're the wild ones who run around the house with scissors..or drink milk that's a day-or-two past its expiration date.) You're on the clock: Valentine's Day is now 12 days away; wanna make some points and save some cash? Give flowers...just not over-priced roses! You'll get ripped on rose prices...so why not send unique flowers that'll last three times as long for 1/3 the price! Ben's no-brainer choice? TropicalColors.com! Order on-line or call 'em toll-free: (800) 965-9732. Buying something on credit? Someone loaning you cash?  Are they forcing you to buy credit life insurance or an extended warranty?  If so, they're probably setting themselves up for a lawsuit and a big $$$ slap by the Attorneys General around the nation: Paul (one of my listeners) was not only forced to buy a 3-year repair policy by Mac Warehouse, they added it on to the purchase without his prior authorization! That's not only wrong...but it smacks of dirty dealing that they need to be held accountable for.  Don't ever let anyone put a gun to your head and pull these types of games outta the blue. (Besides, there are simply too many attorneys that would love to slap 'em back into place!) Here's another way your bank is setting you up for failure...while setting themselves up for bigger profits! According to a recent story in The New York Times: "At least 1,000 banks are encouraging customers with low balances to overdraw their checking accounts, allowing the banks to skirt credit laws and collect billions of dollars in new fees. The banks' programs cover checks that would otherwise bounce and even allow people to overdraw their accounts with ATM and debit cards. The fees are paid disproportionately by low- and moderate-income people, according to industry consultants who help banks create and market the programs. One consultant advises banks to maximize the fees by opening branches "in supermarkets, particularly supermarkets with a middle to down market and a family target market." Banks say that they are offering a service that enables people to avoid paying bounced-check fees to retailers. But many inside and outside the banking business say the programs, while extremely profitable for the banks, are a bad deal for consumers and amount to high-interest loans. The move to encourage overdrafts is a major shift. In the past, when consumer groups complained that bounced-check fees were excessive, banks generally responded that high fees encouraged people to use their checking accounts responsibly. Now, with banks increasingly dependent on fees from consumers, overdrafts have become a source of profit." This is an interesting wrinkle on a story that I first reported in my column in The Dallas Morning News in March of 1999: The revelation that the banks were engaging in a practice known as "high-to-low" check processing...dramatically increasing their income resulting from bounced-check charges. Ben's Check Bouncing Bottom Line? If you don't balance your checkbook, you will end up padding the bank's bottom line...they are going to get you one way or the other. Should the banks to be faulted for wanting to find ways to be profitable? Of course not...but their tactics encourage consumers to make stupid and potentially expensive financial mistakes are suspect, at best. Less than 25% of the nation's checkbook carrying populace balances their account every month: You snooze...you lose! If you don't balance your checkbook, you're asking for trouble and setting yourself up for disaster. Should the bank make a mistake and you fail to catch it within 60 days of your statement date, you're screwed. Period. End of discussion. Buh-bye! Wanna read more about it? Share the wealth! Tell any friends you have left, family members still talking to you, or co-workers who haven't ratted you out to Management about the most reliable source of insight and ideas available since Michael Jackson had his first cosmetic surgery: Get 'em to sign up for the [free] weekly Dose of Dover newsletter right here on our award-winning website! Justice is blind, but this latest ruling from a federal judge proves that at the very least, it's not deaf, dumb or obese-between-the-ears: Plaintiff's attorneys that engage in litigation lotto should be forced to pay the defendant's legal fees and court costs when silly cases like this one against McDonald's are thrown out.  Read all about it here..... As long as the Golden Arches have dodged a potentially expensive lawsuit, maybe they'll be able to spend the extra cash on a new marketing strategy!  The shine has definitely rubbed off the golden boys [and girls] from Hamburger U.  Read more about their struggles in the retail/fast food marketplace...and how those screaming kids have been fueling the profitability of Ronald's House for a long time. Could you be sleeping with the enemy? Just in time for Valentine's Day: How To Catch A Cheating Spouse [...or Significant Other]: Before you check their underwear drawer, you'd better not miss next week's show...life-lessons made a little easier, and a convenient way to listen and learn: The Benjamin Dover Show (don't forget the new start time) from 7-9a Sunday mornings on KFI-AM/640, Los Angeles!

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