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This
edition of Footsteps Along the Path was initially issued by Clear
Path Financial Education Services which has now become Kuehn
Financial Education Services LLC. For more information about
Kuehn Financial Education Services LLC, please email 
or visit www.kuehnservices.com.
Clear
Path Credit Consultants believes:
If you build on your own skills,
Rely on your own abilities,
Increase your range of knowledge,
And get help when you need it,
You are the investment that will succeed above all others.
Welcome to the eleventh edition of Clear Path Financial Education
Services' Footsteps Along the Path. The goal of this newsletter is
to provide relevant and succinct information on financial management
to consumers and small business owners. It is designed to build upon
previous issues, developing a clear path to financial freedom. Reader
feedback is encouraged.
Please feel free to forward Footsteps Along the Path. If you have
received this from a friend or colleague, and wish to be added to
the newsletter distribution list, simply provide a response e-mail
with this request. The same applies if you do not desire further contact,
your name will immediately be deleted from the list. 
In this issue:
*Article: "The Facts of F.A.C.T."
* A Knowledgeable Consumer is Powerful: A compilation of news, views
& reviews
* Seminars Worth Your Time
* Topic for the next issue of Footsteps Along the Path
The Facts of F.A.C.T.
The facts of life now include the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction
legislation (FACT). On December 4, 2003 Congress significantly amended
the Fair Credit Reporting Act and passed FACT. This 171 page piece
of credit industry regulation must be implemented within 365 days
of its enactment. For a quick read, here are a few highlights.
* The federal government has the power not the states. Historically,
states have stronger laws protecting the consumer and respond more
rapidly to change than the federal government. Also, there is no federal
private right of action for individuals to sue violators of FACT.
* Consumers can request social security numbers be truncated on their
credit reports.
* Credit reports must display coded medical information for privacy.
* FACT does not require notification to effected individuals if there
is a breach of security in a company's computerized data.
* Identity theft:
Pros = One call does it all. Phone a single credit bureau regarding
identity theft and it will alert the other two national bureaus. Upon
completing the proper paperwork, any consumer can request a fraud
alert be placed on their credit files for 90 days. For 7 years of
protection, the consumer files a FTC affidavit and local police report.
To stop fraud, individuals must be contacted before any new credit
or increase in credit lines occurs.
Cons = FACT does nothing to prevent identity theft before it
occurs. In addition, credit bureaus have a whopping 30 days to respond
to the blocking of credit accounts impacted by fraud. To place a block,
the individual needs to prove a negative. S/he is required to confirm
"the information is not the information relating to any transaction
by the consumer".
* Cost of credit reports:
Pros = Consumers may receive one free credit report from the
national bureaus, Equifax, Trans Union and Experian. The FTC will
establish a centralized call center by the end of 2004.
Cons = The all important three digit credit score is not free.
This summarizing piece of information is unnecessarily being withheld
from credit reports so credit bureaus can still make a buck. Also,
non-national credit reporting agencies (Innovis, ChexSystems, AAA
American Credit Bureau ...) will not offer free reports. Some states
already provide more than one free credit report per year. This will
cease under the new federal law.
* Accuracy and completeness of reports:
Pros = The FTC will conduct an ongoing study for completeness
of information being submitted to the credit bureaus. It is a small
step in the right direction.
Cons = Creditors or furnishers of information are still not
required to provide complete information. The data they do report
is to be accurate to the best of their knowledge, but it need not
encompass all consumer credit activity. The government will only study
the bureaus for accuracy and completeness. No provisions in FACT declare
regulations for reliable findings.
If you would like to read more about FACT: http://www.consumersunion.org/pub/core_financial_services/000745.html
A Knowledgeable Consumer is Powerful
This column is reserved for news, views and reviews and I certainly
have news! Footsteps Along the Path has never been written in the
first person. However, for this issue it is appropriate. I express
my gratitude for all the support of my colleagues and clients. On
January 30, 2004 I distributed an e-mail, "What's in a name?",
asking for your comments on a name change for Clear Path Credit Consultants.
Many of you took the time to respond. Thank you. It is utterly important
for me to know what it is you value with my services; along with what
Clear Path means to you. That is why I ask!
Clear Path Credit Consultants has morphed into Clear Path Financial
Education Services to better reflect its business direction. Beyond
the name change, a new logo has been developed and a website is in
the works. These actions support what Clear Path is doing in the community:
promoting knowledge as power and prosperity.
The website will be a place to visit often. It will be interactive
and rolled out in phases. The vision is to offer an Internet destination
where people can be comfortable with learning about personal and business
money matters. Some of the staged features include:
* An educational center with resources and answers to your concerns
* Online seminars
* Outlines and notes of Clear Path's public seminars after they have
been presented
* Access to Footsteps Along the Path
* Links to Clear Path in the media
* Updates on Clear Path's community events
* Contacting Clear Path with ease
So, why the emphasis on "services" over "consultants"
in the name transformation? Clear Path will always provide integrity
based consulting in addition to developing services for consumer advocacy
and public education. "Services" is simply a bigger umbrella
for Clear Path to operate.
In regard to the logo, Clear Path is graphically represented in a
trustworthy Columbus blue and a precise Silverado silver. The symbolic
design is modern and clean.
I look forward to sharing Clear Path Financial Education Services
with you.
Regards,
Debi Kuehn MBA
Seminars Worth Your Time
"Path to a Financially Thriving Business" presented by Clear
Path Financial Education Services
March 25, 2004
7:00 p.m.
Glendale Public Library (59th & Brown Street, Glendale AZ)
RSVP Kathy Hamel, Glendale Business Librarian, at 623-930-3552
"Are you master of your own destiny with visions of business
prosperity, but financially struggling? Do you find it difficult to
meet your personal expenses while expanding your business? Do you
cringe at developing concrete financial goals with a strategy to reach
them? Is debt draining your current cash flow? Do you know the exact
service rate that will make your company profitable? Join Debi Kuehn
MBA, owner of Clear Path Financial Education Services, for an interactive
workshop which explores how revenue, profit, net income, cash flow
and credit intermingle to create the reality of a money making company.
Learn what you need to consider before growing your business to the
next level. This bottom line approach to financial information will
increase your bottom line! The workshop is excellent for start-ups,
businesses on the edge of expansion and those strained monetarily."
Upcoming in Footsteps Along the Path
Money advice for the self employed
Deborah A. Kuehn is the owner, educator and consumer advocate of
Clear Path Financial Education Services. Clear Path believes knowledge
is power and prosperity.
PH:
623-580-9293
Written by Deborah A. Kuehn, MBA
All rights reserved
Clear Path Financial Education Services is a registered trade name
Issue XI
February 20, 2004
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