The answer to this will vary from 1.5 percent of your balance to up to 4 percent. Here, for once, you want the figure to be higher, rather than lower, because the lower your required payment, as the credit card companies well know, the longer it will take you to pay off the debt.
In fact, it is essential that you pay more than the minimum each month. (We’ll talk about why later in this chapter.) But the higher the minimum is, the better.
If You Carry a Balance, Is There a Grace Period on New
Purchases?
Most cards will charge you interest as soon as you make a purchase if you carry a balance, but there is one card I know of that does not, so keep your eyes peeled for others.
What Is the Cash Advance Fee Charge, and What Interest Rate Applies to Cash Advances?
This is where these companies can get you big-time. Even if your introductory rate is 5.9 percent, if you take out a cash advance, regardless of whether or not you owe a balance, many companies charge 2.5 percent (give or take) of the amount of each cash advance, up to a maximum fee of $20. Some cards 1.will charge you less for cash advances or tell you to use the convenience checks they supply, but you have to ask, because many companies charge those exorbitantly high interest rates even when you use their convenience checks. “Convenient” for them.
There an Annual Fee?
The only acceptable answer is no.