DEAR BRUCE: I keep getting these in the mail, those "you have been approved" credit card proposals so I finally decided to apply. When I filled out the application and returned it into the issuer, I was declined because of some spotty credit issues. I don't understand how they can say you've been approved, when in fact you haven't? -- Reader in Michigan
DEAR READER.: I get a lot of those in the mail as well, and I just toss them. But if you were to read the fine print very carefully, while it says in the front "you've been approved" on the back it says "subject to credit approval." Don't take it for granted that if it says pre-approved that you will automatically receive credit. This is not the case.
DEAR BRUCE: I recently relocated to a new city because of my job. Once I got settled, I went to the local bank to open a checking account. I was surprised that they would not give me an account. They said that I had issues with several bad checks in the past, so they could not help me. I went to another bank and another and the same things. I did have some trouble a few years back with some insufficient funds, but I did make good on them. How can this be? -- Reader, via e-mail
DEAR READER.: It is very true. Banks have been seriously injured by people writing bad checks and then not making good on them. The writing of non-sufficient fund checks is considered a very serious offense by most bankers, isolated incidents aside. When there is a clear pattern of that kind of behavior, you are considered a very poor risk. And with the way things are going with our economy of late, everyone's going to be very cautious.
DEAR BRUCE: My mother-in-law is 75 and may soon be entering a nursing home. She refuses to have a will made, saying it's unnecessary because everything is in my wife's name or held jointly. I question this thinking and would like to know what you think? -- Reader, via e-mail
DEAR READER: I just don't understand why people are so reluctant to have a will. It doesn't cost that much and assures that your loved ones are left with what you intended them to have. You cannot believe the amount of letters I get regarding wills. You and I are together on this one. There is no excuse to avoid making a properly drawn and executed will. It's entirely possible that everything will pass directly to your wife through this joint tenancy, and the right of survivorship accounts. In the event that they don't, the will serves as a backup. If everything passes satisfactorily, then the will can be discarded or just filed, not probated.