HOW YOUR BRAIN WORKS … AGAINST YOU

Our brain fools us.

Our brains are divided into left and right hemispheres but that's not the right subdivision to ponder anymore. Recent research finds we have two brains. Different terminology gets used. We’ll settle on

1. Fast brain: unconscious, subconscious, nonconscious, primitive, reptilian, instinctive, automatic, emotional
2. Slow brain: conscious, easier for us to direct, reflective, logical

The Problem

The basic problem is that our fast brain jumps to conclusions and our slow brain is lazy. This setup has advantages and consequences. For instance, our fast brain thinks the rustle in the bushes is a lion (or some other predator with sharp teeth) and gets our bodies ready to run. Our slow brain eventually concludes the rustle was more likely the wind or a raccoon. Lions are rare in our urban world.

At any moment, we're only attentive to a smidgeon of what's bombarding our senses. Our focus is like a spotlight, telescope or magnifying glass. We might be looking at the wrong things, which is how magic tricks fool us. Maybe you've seen this basketball test of selective attention (YouTube). What was your reaction the first time?

There’s another complication. Our memory changes each time we recall something. See the forgetting pill erases painful memories forever (Wired, Feb 2012).

Bugs and Milk

Visitors to Disneyland or The Magic Kingdom may recall meeting Bugs Bunny (ABC News). That's impossible because Bugs is from Warner Brothers. The brain was thinking of Mickey Mouse. We'd know that if we thought for a moment. Instead, we're likely to accept our initial thoughts.

If you've got kids, ask them to keep repeating the word "milk". While they are doing this, ask them what a cow drinks. They'll probably say milk because we associate cows with milk. Calves drink milk but cows drink water.

Numbers

We have problems with numbers too. Consider a risk with a probability of 0.001 vs 0.002. Both look small but the second number is double. Express them as one in a thousand and two in a thousand. Now the difference is more apparent (though the risks still seem small).

Would you rather get $100 now or $105 in a month? Growth of 5% in a month is excellent but we might prefer the money today.

If you toss a fair coin 10 times and get 8 heads, what outcome would you expect on the next toss? You know the probability is 50% for either heads or tails but …

We worry about plane crashes when the drive to the airport is the most dangerous part of the trip. The results are the same whether you measure miles travelled, total deaths or the probability of dying.
We don't worry much about the harm we do to our bodies due to a poor diet or a lack of exercise. Irrational but common.

The Point

We are flawed. Businesses use our idiosyncrasies to influence sell us stuff. Our mental foibles get used to get us to do things we might otherwise reject.

What we don't know can be used against us ... and succeed. What we do know can still be used against us ... and succeed.

Books

Our brains don't work the way we think they do. Recent research shows this. Here are some of the better books. They are generally easy to read (though I listened to the audiobooks). The titles are linked to Amazon where you can read reviews.

Must Reads

1. Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (Wikipedia): wide-ranging, from a Nobel laureate who developed behavioral economics with Amos Taversky; 10 questions with Time (YouTube)
2. The Willpower Instinct by Kelly McGonigal: how to improve your self-control
3. The Hidden Brain by Shankar Vedantam: explores unconscious bias in depth with case studies

Lighter Reads

1. Predictably Irrational (Amazon) and The Upside of Irrationality by Dan Ariely
2. How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer: found guilty of self-plagiarism (Pop Matters, Jul 11, 2012)
3. The Invisible Gorilla by Chris Chabris and Daniel Simons
4. Incognito by David Eagleman

How To Influence

1. Influence by Robert Cialdini: the reference book; universal principles
2. Switch by Chip and Dan Heath: easy to read; lots of examples; summary (YouTube); Dan on why change is hard (YouTube)
3. Drive by Dan Pink: about motivation; live recording from Communitech
4. Buying In by Rob Walker: we want to fit in and be unique; enter murky marketing ("murketing") as used by companies like Red Bull, Psion and Converse
5. Nudge by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein: Wikipedia, talk (YouTube)
6. Sway by Ori and Rom Brafman: BNet review (YouTube)

These books are interrelated and different. They are a great way to understand how your brain works … and works against you.

Links

• Is air travel safer than car travel (USA Today)
• Death by the numbers (LA Times, Aug 2007)
• Top 10 ways your brain is sabotaging you (and how to beat it) (Lifehacker)
• Dealing with the staggering cost of dementia
• Fearing the wrong risks (with examples)
• image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Podcast 178

direct download | Internet Archive page | iTunes

PS What do you think?

ARE YOU MORE LIKE APPLE, GOOGLE OR MICROSOFT?

Which brand resonates most with you: Apple, Google or Microsoft? Is that the brand you want to be like?

We are also brands and our own attributes vary from good to not so good. Let's look at what we can learn from these three very different companies.

Microsoft

Microsoft is associated with the Windows desktop computer operating system. Their focus on the Internet only started on December 7, 1995, months after the $200 million launch of Windows 95.

Microsoft has difficulty changing. New initiatives often flop. Despite massive spending, they aren't a leader in web searches or smartphones. The Internet Explorer web browser keeps losing market share to Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.

Windows is known for crashes and viruses. In fairness, Windows has improved. Vista was more secure and pointed out design flaws in third-party applications. Windows 7 is a pleasure to use. The redesigned Office 2007 and 2010 work well but are reviled by those resistant to change.

Microsoft has great successes and huge resources but has trouble adapting to tomorrow. Take a look at this tablet with dual screens, multitouch and a pen. There's nothing like it.

Microsoft killed this amazing new product. Maybe something better is on the way? Maybe not.

Apple

Apple products work well because the company maintains so much control. Their rules limit individual freedom. Apple has been innovative with products like the iPod, iPhone and iPad. The company cares about design, not just functionality. Apple fans around the world will line up to buy products. Maybe that's why Apple's market capitalization now exceeds Microsoft's for the first time.

Apple spends $1.1 billion annually on research and development. That seems like lots, but Microsoft spends $8.6 billion, almost eight times more.

Apple has been called "capricious, heavy-handed and opaque in how it approves applications" for the iPhone. It banned Google Voice and even Pulitzer prize-winning satirist Mark Fiore. Not everyone can win battles against Apple and the arbitrary rules they set. Steve Jobs makes statements which are less than accurate. He fibbed 10+ times during one interview this week.

Apple feels like one person: Steve Jobs, who has health issues. What happens to the company without him? Maybe nothing. Maybe plenty.

Apple is like watching TV: the choices are made for you. The company has crushed competition with innovation even in established markets like music players, smart phones and tablets.

Google

Google is quite different from Apple and Microsoft. Google shows uncommon generosity by making so much available for free. Here are some examples

• web browser (Chrome)
• email (Gmail)
• GPS navigation with Street View (already used for 1 billion miles of guided navigation)
• voice search
• Blogger, the platform where this blog is hosted
• Word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, online surveys
• video (Google video, YouTube)

They don't squeeze every dollar from us but they could. They can afford this because they earn so much from ad revenue. Their approach puts pressure on competitors.

Google focuses on the online world and openness. They care about speedy, unfettered , cheap anywhere/anytime web access on any device. That's because they make more money the longer we are online.

This approach seems to work. Google Android phones now outsell the iPhone in the US and perhaps worldwide. Over 100,000 phones are getting activated daily.

Look at the open source approach to Google TV, which launches this fall. Sony is making TVs, Logitech is making peripherals and Intel is making the computer chips. Even Adobe Flash gets supported. This combination may work. In contrast, Apple TV is called the iFlop and Microsoft TV doesn't exist.

Google innovates and remains relevant. You get vast choice and freedom.

Which Will Win?

If you had to describe each brand in a word, would you agree with these?

Microsoft	bureaucratic	desktop mindset	loves old games (especially Monopoly)
Apple	autocratic	one-stop shop (e.g., iTunes)	makes new games and sets the rules
Google	democratic	your choice	you design the games and you set the rules

What About You?

Your brand speaks too. The perceptions that others have may not be the one you intend.
Going forward, what perceptions do you want to create? Which of Apple, Google or Microsoft would you rather emulate?

Links

•  uApple: the iPad shows how you can be like Apple
• Do you fail like Apple?
• Are you seen as a commodity like a netbook?

Podcast Episode 69 (6:20)

direct download | Internet Archive page

PS If you don't like any of these brands, pick your own.

What happens during a paramedical exam for life insurance?

When you apply for life insurance, your health (both medical and financial) gets evaluated. This process starts with data gathering.

What's needed depends on your age and the amount of coverage. The requirements usually show on the life insurance projection you signed when you applied. Depending on your answers and test results, more investigations may be required.

The Nurse

A nurse came to my home at the appointed time to conduct the tests. She was pleasant, efficient and experienced. She also works at a hospital. She asked many questions throughout. The process took about 40 minutes.

Sometimes, the insurer requires that your examination be conducted by a doctor of their choosing. To prevent conflicts of interest, you can't use your own doctor.

The Requirements

As with a normal medical checkup, the nurse collected the basics

• measures your height
• checks your weight on her scale
• checks your blood pressure
• asks about your use of alcohol, tobacco and drugs
• asks about you use of prescription medication
• asks about changes in your health

In addition, I provided blood and urine samples which go all the way to Kansas City for analysis. Why there? Who knows. You'd think local testing would be faster and cheaper.

I also gave

• proof of identity with my driver's license, which has a photo
• the name/address of my doctor

Past health affects future health. So you're asked many questions about yourself and some about your family.

Tip: When answering questions, pretend you're on the witness stand or at border security. Be truthful. Be concise. Be quiet. You gain nothing by continuing to yak.

A final question asks if any relevant information was not provided. Clever.

The EKG

An EKG was also required because of the amount of coverage I was requesting. This does not take a visit to a clinic for testing with a huge machine. Now a small device the size of a paperback novel suffices. Ten electrodes were connected over my chest. I sat comfortably with my feet resting on a chair. The results were converted to sound and communicated to the analysis centre by telephone. The squeals reminded me of dial-up modems connecting. Or R2D2 in a foul mood.

Had the EKG identified problems, the test would have been repeated.

Ouch! The EKG sensors attach to your body like bandages with metal probes on the back. The application is easy but removal stings if you have a hairy body like mine. The nurse asked me to remove the three most toughest probes.

Initial Results

The initial results look good and mirror my executive physical four months ago. If the insurance underwriters don't agree, you face

• more tests, or
• higher premiums (a poor health rating costs you just as a poor credit rating does), or
• no offer of insurance (you're uninsurable)

Free

There's no charge for the examinations to you or your advisor. The insurer covers the entire cost even if you are declined for coverage or you decline to purchase the coverage.

Each party loses if you don't get insured. You don't get the protection you wanted. Your advisor doesn't get paid. The insurer doesn't get revenue to cover the costs incurred. Even so, the insurer would rather lose a small amount now than to pay out a large death benefit for which you paid too little. (See why insurers won't insure you.)

Privacy

If the underwriting process uncovers medical issues, your advisor never gets the details. To protect your privacy, the results go only to your doctor and you. You can then see if you can take steps to restore your health through treatment or changes in lifestyle.

Links

• Is an executive physical worth the bother?
• The lowdown on life insurance exams (MSN Money)
• Why insurers won't insure you (H1N1 anyone?)

Podcast Episode 45 (4:48)

direct download | Internet Archive page

How "Do Not Spam" Laws Help and Hurt You

There are people who would like to get rid of minimum wage. But we have to have it, because if we didn't some people would not get paid money. They would work all week for two loaves of bread and some Spam. --- Chris Rock

We don't want to be paid in Spam (canned, spiced ham) or pained by spam (emails we didn't agree to receive).

Canada is the lone G8 country without anti-spam legislation, and in 2007, was ranked number six in a list of top 10 worst countries for originating spam.
--- Canadian Lawyer

In 2008, Canada ranked #4 on the Spam by Originating Country list, according to Cisco. Spauhaus, a nonprofit that tracks spam, doesn't include Canada in the top 10. The United States "wins" in each survey.

Better To Give Than Receive

Let's not quibble over which country spews the most spam. Let's turn to us, the recipients. We can take precautions by using anti-spam filters and email services that weed that garbage out. Gmail and Kaspersky Internet Security work well for me.

Like the Do Not Call lists which prevent unsolicited phone calls, Do Not Email rules are a great idea. Some argue that honest small businesses can get hurt inadvertently. How?

Let's look at an example. Financial advisors who serve you well are already send you timely, meaningful email. They have your permission and won't be affected by the new rules. In practice, very few independent advisors send out email or newsletters, which creates opportunities for their larger competitors.

If you can't be contacted directly, advisors might to advertise to you or attract you in other ways. Ads in old-world media --- tv, radio, newspaper, flyers, billboards --- aren't targeted and get lost in the clutter. Money gets wasted as the wrong people get interrupted.

Targeted online advertising can work well. Think of Google Adwords. You get unobtrusive ads related to what you're seeking at exactly the right millisecond. Nice. Unless you use adblockers like the free Adblock Plus for FireFox. Then you're on your own Do Not Advertise list.

A Better Way

There's an even better way. Advisors can create quality content. Say you want to know what Warren Buffett thinks about buying term life insurance. Type in "warren buffett term insurance" in Google, Bing or Yahoo. You'll get links to my 2007 post that currently ranks higher than BBC News, Bloomberg, CNBC, Marketwatch.com, Wikipedia and even Berkshire Hathaway (where I pulled Warren's profound quote).

Discovery trumps advertising any day. Discovery is free. Any advisor can make themselves easy to find. Advisors then switch from annoying pest to welcome guest.

Why Aren't More Advisors Online?

Books are the last bastion of the old business model—the only major medium that still hasn't embraced the digital age. Publishers and author advocates have generally refused to put books online for fear the content will be Napsterized. --- Clive Thompson, Wired 17.06

We go online for information, but meaningful objective financial information can be difficult to find and hard to understand (especially for the life insurance strategies the wealthy use).

Advisors are reluctant to put meaningful information online. They're afraid that competitors would steal their best ideas. In contrast, authors and bloggers share their best to get read. Recently, Darren Rowse posted 31 Days To Build A Better Blog day by day for free at Problogger. Then he started selling a nicely formatted, expanded ebook, which some (like me) bought for the convenience.

The mystique that advisors create works against them because you can't gauge the quality of what they offer without getting personally involved --- a big commitment of your time and a loss of privacy.

Not all unsolicited email is bad. You lose when something valuable doesn't get through. Do Not Spam laws will protect your privacy. What's next? How about saving trees with Do Not Junk Mail rules?

Links

• Annoying Pest or Welcome Guest? The Do Not Call List
• Future of Reading in a Digital World (Clive Thompson, Wired 17.06)
• Canada introduces anti-spam legislation (Canadian Lawyer, June 1, 2009)
• Official Q&A for Anti-Spam Legislation Q&A (Industry Canada)
• Industry braces for "do not email" legislation (advisor.ca, June 19, 2009)
• The 10 Worse Spam Origin Countries (spamhaus.org, updated daily)
• Cisco Spam by Originating Country in 2008 (marketingcharts.com)

Podcast (5:48)

direct download | Internet Archive page

Annoying Pest Or Welcome Guest? The Do Not Call List

Cold prospecting is like coal mining. It’s dirty, filthy, ugly, smelly, sweaty work best left to people who earn minimum wage with brawn, not maximum wage with brain. --- Dan Kennedy, Magnetic Marketing

There's lots of talk about the new National Do Not Call List (DNC) in Canada. As a consumer, you're probably happy. What about advisors trying to make a living? Some are concerned. Others aren't. 

Annoying Pest

You don't want to ignore a phone call at night because it could be important. We'd get calls from fax machines calling our fax machine. We didn't have one. So they'd call back again and again thinking our machine ran out of paper.  

Office fax machines still spew garbage faxes. You pay for the paper and ink. How annoying. There was no easy way to opt out until now. On a random day, I saw 27 wasted pages.

Email spam is annoying but it's easier to filter out --- 33 messages correctly tagged today. 

Telemarketing is the second worst pest. Calls at inconvenient times. Products and services you don't want or need.

Those days are now gone (with some exceptions).

The Most Annoying Remains

There's no relief for the most annoying pest: door-to-door solicitors. Two cute kids rang our doorbell and asked us to buy popcorn to support a cause we never hear about. I took the catalog. How can you refuse? The prices were $45-$55 on the open page. Yikes! Saying no then became easy.

Welcome Guest

You can easily joing the National Do Not Call registry. Online, you enter your phone number and confirm you're a human by typing an onscreen code. Here's the surprise. You don't even need to prove the phone number is yours. If you're not getting enough telemarketing, maybe someone opted you out. An act of random kindness. 

Unintended Side Effects

Before you choose your wish
You better think first.
With every wish there comes a curse.
--- Bruce Springsteen, With Every Wish

Old techniques like cold calling may be dead. Advisors are generally told that they cannot call on behalf of a company and if they do, they'll pay the entire fine of $16,500 per incident. Ouch! 

Suppose you're my advisor and I give you a referral. If you phone, you're telemarketing and you don't have permission. I'd have to call on your behalf or you could send them a letter. 

Businesses seek ways to encourage you to contact them. We're already smothered by advertising but expect more. From those willing to spend. 

Links

• National Do Not Call Registry (official site)
  
• Canadian Do Not Call List (Wikipedia)
• Fax Marketing: 27 pages of garbage
  
• Direct Marketing prices (dmworks.ca from Pitney Bowes)

The Dangers Of Visiting OSFI's Website

While writing Oblivion: What Happens If My Life Insurance Company Dies?, I found a potentially harmful website from an unlikely source: OSFI. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), regulates banks and most life insurance companies in Canada. You'd expect their website to be very safe. Maybe it is. 

The Risks

The new Google Chrome web browser spots problems that other browsers miss and explains their concerns:

Of the 1092 pages we tested on the site over the past 90 days, 304 page(s) resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent. The last time Google visited this site was on 09/21/2008, and the last time suspicious content was found on this site was on 09/21/2008. 

Malicious software includes 934 scripting exploit(s). Successful infection resulted in an average of 2 new processes on the target machine.

--- Google 

Here is the screenshot.

Protecting Yourself

You can protect yourself by taking precautions

• up-to-date antivirus software with Internet security
• up-to-date web browsers other than Internet Explorer (e.g., FireFox, Chrome, Opera)
• visiting safe sites

Perhaps there are no risks on the OSFI website. Google may be over-reacting, as when this blog was temporarily blocked as spam. 

Links

• Google Chrome web browser
• OSFI website: www.osfi-bsif.gc.ca
• Oblivion: What Happens If My Life Insurance Company Dies?
  

Saving Paper, Time and Space

Where are the paperless offices and homes projected for years?

We're drowning in a sea of paper. If you're organized, the paper may be nicely organized in files. If you're like me, they are stacked on most flat surfaces. Can you find what you want when you want? Maybe. Can you find what you want from where you are? Unlikely unless you've stored files electronically.

Electronic records have five key advantages

1. searchable
2. save trees
3. save space
4. reduce clutter
5. easy to backup
   

The problem is creating the electronic records. I got a fancy flatbed scanner with a sheetfeeder years ago (HP ScanJet 6250). It got little use because it's too temperamental. Pages would jam. The process was slow. Organizing the resulting files became a chore. So the scanner has been sitting beside my desk for years doing little more than gathering dust.

The Perfect Scanner
I want a scanner with the following characteristics

• effortless to use
• scans both sides of the page at once
• scans directly to PDF, converting to searchable text along the way
• good for business cards too (I've got stacks and stacks)
• automatic file naming
  
• compact (ideally portable to allow use while travelling)

Luckily, technology has improved and prices have dropped.

After searching, I found the Fujitsu ScanSnap S300 for Windows (there's also a Mac version). This scanner is portable and can be powered from a USB cable (using two ports in total).

For ease of access, the scans are going to be stored on a computer and backed up to a shared drive on our home network. For extra redundancy, they'll be stored online (not sure where). Try doing that with paper.

In Action
The scanner arrived yesterday. It's well-constructed (feels solid), surprisingly compact and works extremely well. It's easy to move from one computer to another, which allows each of us to scan our own stuff. I've already scanned dozens of pages and fed the originals to the shredder. That's a good start.

Links

• Fujitsu Scansnap S300 Color Mobile Scanner (Amazon.com); 5 stars from 23 of 26 reviewers
• Fujitsu ScanSnap S300 Portable PDF Scanner (Mobile Mag)
• Going all digital with the Fujitsu ScanSnap S300 (Trevin Chow)
• Hands-on: Fujitsu ScanSnap S300 Mobile Scanner (CrunchGear)
• Fujitsu ScanSnap S300 Color Mobile Scanner (About.com)

Protecting Against Identity Theft

What I did in my youth is hundreds of times easier today. Technology breeds crime. --- Frank Abagnale

In Stealing Your Life, Frank Abagnale discusses identity theft. His autobiography, Catch Me If You Can, became a Steven Spielberg movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Abagnale also wrote The Art Of The Steal about protecting yourself against fraud.

Cheery topics indeed. Stealing Your Life is less entertaining than the earlier books because it's closer to our lives. Also, we've heard the messages before. The content has an American slant and there's more "product placement" (a particular pen for writing cheques) and endorsements (e.g., a particular paper shredder).

Don't Leave Home With Them
For identity theft, our two most important pieces of identification are our

1. Social Insurance Number
2. birth certificate.

Fortunately, there's no reason to carry either around with us. Very few places legitimately need to know. Unfortunately, too many of us carry such vital identification with us and share it too easily.

Don't Use Your Debit Card
Use a credit card rather than a debit card. Once money's been taken out of your bank account, it's tough to convince your bank that you weren't negligent. After all, the debit card is supposed to be in your physical possession and only you have the PIN. Right?

Precautions
The Federal Trade Commission estimates that fixing your credit costs $1,200 US and 175 hours of your time.

If you make it easy for people to steal from you, they will. ---Frank Abagnale

I'm now reluctant to use my credit card in restaurants and other places where my card leaves my sight. There's not much choice unless you want to carry extra cash. As a precaution, I use my backup credit card.

Earlier, I wrote about your credit report. Abagnale recommends a regular review to make sure nothing's amiss. He points out that credit agencies are businesses. They do not take responsibility for ensuring the accuracy of the records they hold. Different agencies can have different information about you.

You can get your credit report by mail for free or pay to see it online.

Who Can You Trust?
Abagnale gives examples of unexpected identity theft

• by payroll staff (have access to your SIN, address, banking information, etc)
  
• by parents (taking out credit cards in the names of their kids)

It's too really sad when you can't even trust family. Thieves are getting younger too. Abagnale gives an example of a child charging prescriptions to a parent's card. Age? Less than a month old ;)

Links

• 14 Tips To Avoid Identity Theft (Frank Abagnale)
• Your Credit Report (posted here)
• Free credit report from Equifax and TransUnion
  

Your Credit Rating

The surest way to establish your credit is to work yourself into the position of not needing any. --- Maurice Switzer


Credit is a system whereby a person who can't pay gets another person who can't pay to guarantee that he can pay. --- Charles Dickens

As thanks for being a valued client, my bank keeps inviting to spend more money on them. I keep saying no to their offers but they keep calling. The latest is "an invaluable service that helps you manage your credit rating and protects you against credit fraud and identity theft". Who wouldn't want protection against that? Unfortunately, the price is $15 per month. I'm guessing that tax also applies. That's $180 a year. Maybe that's a reasonable price for peace of mind?

Because I'm so special, I was offered a free report on my credit and 30 days to cancel without penalty. I've never seen a credit report. So I said yes.

Good, Not Excellent
My credit score is Good. The categories are Weak, Fair, Good and Excellent. This is puzzling, because my score is over 90%, but that's only enough to put me into the top 50%-75% of the Canadian population. However, I am "very likely to get approved for new credit, get the best rates and be charged a lower amount of deposit in situations where deposits are often required".

Information Contained
The range of information is scary

• year/month of birth
• court records
  
• legal items
• collection items
• accounts: credit cards, mortgage, car lease, line of credit
• addresses: current and two prior
• employer: current and two prior
• inquiries made by others (most recently from my phone company 11 months ago and my bank 20 months ago)
  

The Depth
Here's an example of how much detail there is. I opened a line of credit in Feb 1993 and closed it in Mar 2007. It says "pays account as agreed" and that "account paid closed closed at consumer's request". The credit limit is shown.

Going Forward
Luckily, there were no surprises in my credit history. The precautions I'm taking to prevent identity theft seem to be working too. So this service isn't worth the ongoing cost. I phoned, got through right away and spoke to a pleasant person who quickly cancelled the service. There was no pressure or need to explain. So the overall experience was positive.

We get concerned about our privacy. A credit report shows that lots is available easily. It's interesting to see the contents. No need to worry ... yet.

Links

• Credit Alert (includes free financial calculators)
• Equifax (credit reporting agency)