Cautionary tale about a prepaid card promoted by a celebrity (from Detroit Free Press):

The financial lockdown that hit RushCard customers — and prevented them from being able to use their own money for days to pay their rent, buy groceries and cover their bills — shouldn’t be ignored by everyone else….

Thousands of customers of the prepaid card were shut out of their accounts in a money maddening moment caused by technical problems that lasted more than 10 days. The troubles started during the Columbus Day weekend as the RushCard was changing technical partners.

The article goes on to highlight lessons from this fiasco:

• You need an emergency fund
• Pay attention to what’s going in with your account
• Don’t buy a financial product promoted by a celebrity just because you are a fan

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Good opportunity to introduce the concept of a prepaid card to your students…here’s an NGPF primer.

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.