Chris Betcher

I haven't seen an actual paper credit card statement for a long time because I've banked electronically for years, but I switched banks recently and they just sent me my first credit card statement on this new account. I was really pleased to see a prominent section on the statement (mandated by government legislation) pointing out just how long this bill will take to pay off if I were only to pay the minimum amount. I think this is a great thing for developing financial literacy, as I'm always shocked at just how little some people know about money, especially credit, and how little they understand its impact. On my credit card's closing balance of $1898.20, it tells me that even if I spent nothing more on the card, and just paid the minimum required amount each month until it was paid off, it would take me 18 YEARS 6 MONTHS, and would accrue $4,348.57 in interest! I hope we are teaching this stuff to kids at school, so they don't fall into the "free money...

He rolled his eyes and tried not to look distrustful. "I'm not sure about all this 'cloud computing' nonsense . It seems to me it's just a passing fad and a huge security risk.  I'd never trust my important stuff there. I'd only put my files on my own computer. I like to know where they are so I can get to them when I need them." His friend responded with a wry grin. "Do you have a bank account?", he asked. The cloud sceptic replied, "Yes, of course I do." "Well... what do you think that is?   Do you think your pile of money is sitting in your very own little personal vault somewhere with your name on it?", he smiled. "No", he continued, "your money is nothing more than a record in a computer database, a series of 0s and 1s kept on a server somewhere as a series of magnetic codes. You don't know where your money is kept or what sort of machine it's kept on, or who maintains it, or how often it's...