Newsletters - Past Issues

Prepaid Credit Cards Update May 6 2026

Keep Selling Those Prepaid Credit Cards Bob.

We are making a fortune screwing people!

Prepaid credit cards are those cards that are on the rack at a variety of quick stop stores, pharmacies, grocery stores and a handful of other merchants. People might use them to send money to a college student, pay a bill, charge stuff or even have an “off the grid” charge card that only the buyer might see and be aware of. Sounds pretty clandestine doesn’t it, and it can be. Money launderers and con artists use these and probably a host of other shady characters for shady reasons, but regular folks buy them too. They may not qualify for a regular revolving credit card because of bad credit or just don’t want to use a revolving credit type of account. You buy the card at a variety of stores, prepay any amount and get the card and a receipt. Then you must register the card with your personal information including a social security number. The card then gets activated. The card doesn’t have your name on it but the company may send you another card in the mail which might be a debit card or a copy of the card you bought. It may or may not have your name on it. I bought a few in my younger days and a few more over the years for gifts and to use when traveling but my experience with them has been dismal. I used one that had a colored dot on it and another that came from a large bank somewhere I had never heard of. Put simply, I don’t use them anymore and for good reason. I don’t have kids in college anymore, have business cards with revolving credit and don’t get them as gifts much in recent times. That said, I did see how they work and it stunk back then and still does. This opinion comes from my most recent experience getting one as a promo gift from a company I use. Every so often the cards would not work. I would be required to go to a website and reactivate the card or something like that. They used terms like verify due to suspicious activity or some damn thing. You could check your balance on the website you initially activated the card on and do some sort of verification. That’s if you didn’t lose your log in information you used when you registered the card, which I did on occasion. After all, I thought once the card was active, it would charge until it ran out. Not so I found out on more than one occasion. One time when the card stopped working, I had to call an 800 number, and it took me multiple tries to get a real person. I got some story that the computer deactivated the card somehow. Yeah, right. Another time a card stopped working for the person I gave it to as a gift. I logged in, couldn’t get in, then wrestled another hour or so on the website with no success. I finally got in and the balance was way off. In the company’s favor of course. Still another time, a card again stopped working, logged in and the balance was negative. Huh? I kept good records on the balance, so I knew something was amiss. What was amiss was my money. It went “missing”. Unable to get through to someone after many tries the website said to write a letter. Ok, so I wrote a letter. I never heard back and tried relogging in again. Another hour wasted, as was my money. You would think these cards would be regulated heavily to prevent this obvious confiscation of people’s funds. Apparently not. I am not the world’s most savvy technology person or website user, but you think prepaying a card and then using it would be pretty simple. Not so, and thinking many people that use these cards, or HAVE to use them, may be even worse at negotiating the clusters I saw. This might be due to their lower income, lower education or just a lack of exposure to such cyber nonsense. I am of the opinion that there is more than just petty theft going on here. I won’t be using these prepaid cards anymore. I don’t have any use for them and am thankful for it. Even if I did need a prepaid card, I wouldn’t buy one. Not after what I experienced. I will stick to company gift cards from specific companies from now on like Starbucks, Amazon or Walmart. Almost all big stores have them now. They work, and without all the BS, not to mention the theft, that I am of the opinion, is taking place on a massive scale.

“Watching the markets so you don’t have to” (end) (As mentioned, please use the below disclaimer exactly) THANKS (Regulations) This article expresses the opinion of Marc Cuniberti and is not meant as investment advice, or a recommendation to buy or sell any securities, nor represents the opinion of any bank, investment firm or RIA, nor this media outlet, its staff, members or underwriters. Mr. Cuniberti holds a B.A. in Economics with honors, 1979, and California Insurance License #0L34249 His insurance agency is BAP INC. insurance services. Email: news@moneymanagementradio.com.

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Interest Rates Set to Rise OH NO! UPDATE MARCH 28 2026

Hyperinflationary Ride?

And just like that the Federal Reserve (FED), after embarking on an interest rate reduction program, came out and warned last week, “not so fast”.

With the price of oil increasing with the military action in Iran, inflation is likely to accelerate even faster than previously expected.

As detailed in last week’s Money Matter’s article, oil is a key ingredient of many of the products we buy. As the price of oil increases, this cost is passed on to consumers in higher prices.

As unexpected as the conflict was, the reality of higher prices now challenges the FED to act to preempt the inflation that is in the pipeline.

This translates to tighter credit and dampening consumer demand, which means raising interest rates.

Whereas the markets and Wall Street expected rates to continue to come down, now the opposite is becoming a real possibility.

Already higher prices are hitting consumer pocketbooks.

Unfortunately, I must now resurrect a warning I haven’t used in years when it comes to inflation, “You ain’t seen nothing yet”.

The conundrum the FED faces now was always going to occur and it was only a matter of time before they faced it. The sudden spike in oil prices has only hastened its arrival.

This conundrum was detailed in last week’s article but is worth repeating.

The inflation genie must be put back into his bottle quickly as inflation somewhat resembles a wildfire. It must be extinguished quickly before it gets out of hand. Once it takes off, it is that much harder to stop, and the FED knows that.

With the consumer already stressed due to increased living costs, and the market reeling in a mild but persistent freefall, what is ahead will likely not be pleasant.

I don’t envy the FED. It is caught between a rock and a hard place. Like I said, they would have had to face this problem eventually. Inflation was never going to recede as promised by both the FED and Washington. There was just too much money created during the Covid shutdowns to keep the world from imploding due to the business inactivity forced upon it. You simply cannot shut down three quarters of the world’s businesses and expect it to recover without serious problems.

Many analysts, including this one, warned against such actions. We will never know if the shutdowns helped or hindered the virus’s spread. What we do know, however, is that the massive amount of government spending to keep the financial wheels of the world spinning, and the consumers of the world able to put food on the table, has resulted in the egregious and persistent inflation we have witnessed in the last three years.

The spike in oil now only makes the situation much worse.

Hold onto your hats. I think it’s going to be a very rough ride.

“Watching the markets so you don’t have to”

(end)

(As mentioned, please use the below disclaimer exactly) THANKS (Regulations) This article expresses the opinion of Marc Cuniberti and is not meant as investment advice, or a recommendation to buy or sell any securities, nor represents the opinion of any bank, investment firm or RIA, nor this media outlet, its staff, members or underwriters. Mr. Cuniberti holds a B.A. in Economics with honors, 1979, and California Insurance License #0L34249 His insurance agency is BAP INC. insurance services. Email: news@moneymanagementradio.com.

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CAL FAIR NOW HAS AUTO PAY UDPATE MARCH 16 2026

Beginning April 1, 2026, the California FAIR Plan will begin accepting automatic recurring payments (“autopay”). To enroll in autopay, policyholders must opt in to receiving emailed billing and autopay notices. Click here to learn more.

Payment plans offered

The California FAIR Plan offers the following payment plans:

Full Pay – One full payment of the total annual premium
Triannual (3 Pay) – 3 installment payments (consisting of 40%, 30% & 30% of the total annual premium)
Monthly (11 Pay) – 11 installment payments (consisting of an initial payment of 16.67% of the total annual premium, plus 10 additional equal payments).

Fee advisories

Dwelling Fire policies on Full Pay plans do not incur an installment fee.
There is no processing fee for payments made by ACH. A 3.5% processing fee is charged by a third-party vendor for payments made by credit/debit card.
Dwelling Fire policies on triannual or monthly payment plans incur a $4.50 per installment fee.
Dwelling Fire policies incur a $25 Returned Payment fee any time a premium payment is dishonored.
Commercial policies on Full Pay plans do not incur an installment fee.
Commercial policies on triannual or monthly payment plans incur a $4.50 per installment fee.
Commercial policies incur a $25 Returned Payment fee any time a premium payment is dishonored.
California Earthquake Authority (CEA) policies incur a $1.00 per installment fee.

Changing your pay plan at renewal

You can change your pay plan at renewal by simply making the term’s initial payment in the amount listed on your renewal invoice for the pay plan of your choice. By making the payment, you will enroll in that pay plan for the policy term.

CAL FAIR AGENCY MARC CUNIBERTI (530) 559-1214

MEDICARE FIRE HEALTH DENTAL EYE CAR AND LIABILITY

WE DIDNT ENTER AFTER 2021 :)

Bitcoin Update BITGOING GOING GONE? Feb 11 2026

Soon to be Bit-Gone?

Bitcoin falling to bits?

In a favorite topic here on Money Matters, Bitcoin is once again in the news and not in a good way.

Bitcoin has had a rough start to 2026 falling from $88,731.00 down to its present hovering price of $60,000 something. It had hit $126,000 around October of 2025. Considering it started way back in October of 2009 at 0.00099, I must, as I have continued to, keep from laughing at the ridiculousness of the whole thing.

I mean anything that goes from ten thousandths of a penny to $126,000.00 in less than a decade and a half cannot, in my mind, be taken seriously no matter what anyone says.

I have called Bitcoin vapor before, and I will do it again in today’s musing. Apparently other notables are beginning to think the same thing, and some have thought it a long time ago.

A economic think tank, the Brookings institute, long ago in their January 20, 2021, said “It (Bitcoin) has no intrinsic value and is not backed by anything”.

More recently, on January 30, 2025, Nobel Laureate Eugene Fama predicted Bitcoin will become worthless.

Famed investor and co-partner of Berkshire Hathaway and the number two man for investing icon Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, had no love for Bitcoin and didn’t mince words. Labeling it "disgusting," "worthless," "rat poison," and "contrary to the interests of civilization", he thought it was a dangerous, speculative gambling tool rather than a productive asset and advocated for its banning altogether.

Just last week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that Washington has no authority and no intention to bail out Bitcoin investors. He added “any Bitcoin held by the U.S. government will come only from asset seizures, not taxpayer-funded purchases”.

There are many reasons I, and others, are more than a bit skeptical about the future of Bitcoin. Its lack of being price stable makes it unusable as a store of value. Anything even considered to be a currency or medium of exchange must not jump around like a Mexican jumping bean. Bitcoin has other problems like lack of intrinsic value, practical limitations (like needing electricity to use it), legality issues, environmental concerns (requires enormous power to create) and exposure to criminality.

It is no secret that a number of exchanges where people have bought Bitcoin have gone bankrupt, taking investors’ money with it. Some investors have had their bitcoin accounts hacked and losing a password to your bitcoin account leaves an investor with no options.

I find it a sad state of affairs that some investors have, for whatever reason, lost everything.

Even a repeated detractor and reader here that generated more than a few irate emails to my inbox and letters to the editor went suspiciously silent when the exchange he was using went belly up, taking most if not all his money with it.

And to those who believe Bitcoins anonymity and separation from central governments isolate their money from government intervention, think again.

Any government that feels their currency is threatened by Bitcoin can, and have, in more than a few cases, simply shut down the exchange access from the web or declare it illegal with fines and jail time.

Some will argue the price of Bitcoin can only go up due to the limited number of coins that can be created. Just because something is scarce doesn’t make it valuable or viable.

I am obviously not a fan of Bitcoin and will continue to argue against it, noting the inherent deficiencies this and other cyber coins have in their current form.

That said, there are many Bitcoin supporters running around and the arguments for its existence are many.

But when I hold it up against the time-tested economic truths of currencies, money, mediums of exchange and how markets function, I just don’t buy it.

And therefore, I won’t.

“Watching the markets so you don’t have to”

(end)

(As mentioned please use the below disclaimer exactly) THANKS (Regulations)

This article expresses the opinion of Marc Cuniberti and is not meant as investment advice, or a recommendation to buy or sell any securities, nor represents the opinion of any bank, investment firm or RIA, nor this media outlet, its staff, members or underwriters. Mr. Cuniberti holds a B.A. in Economics with honors, 1979, and California Insurance License #0L34249 His insurance agency is BAP INC. insurance services. Email: news@moneymanagementradio.com

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Marc Cuniberti

Update The Auto Loan Market is in trouble Feb 2 2026

What’s going on in the auto loan market?

In 2025, the delinquencies on automobile loans have hit record high levels. Subprime borrowers, as is usually the case with other loans as well, are the worst of the bunch. Subprime is classified as consumers that have credit scores below 670.

6.65% of subprime borrowers are at least 60 days past due. 3% of auto loans are seriously delinquent which is classified as past 90 days.

Repossessions hit 2.2 million cars, the highest since the Great Recession of 2008/09.

Seeing as the Federal Reserve, in conjunction with the auto manufacturers, reportedly help car dealers by giving them lower then market loan rates, the skyrocketing delinquencies is especially disturbing.

Current loan rates, barring any special programs for consumers with high credit scores, range from 9% for new cars to over 14% for used ones. The average monthly payment is $750.00. Close to 20% of borrowers now have payments exceeding $1,000.00.

The U.S. consumers hold an eye-popping 1.66 trillion in auto debt.

Car insurance rates are not helping, up 19% year over year and the cost to repair a car has jumped more than 33% since 2020.

Auto loans used to be one of the safest loans for lenders to issue back in 2010. In 2025, they are the second riskiest, right behind the student loan market.

What we pay for automobiles, the interest on the loans to buy them and insurance to protect them, all continue to increase as the cost to insurers and car companies rise. The increasing defaults also add to the cost of the interest we pay on auto loans.

Add to that the startling rise in automobile loan fraud initiated by a variety of schemes by thieves and scammers which, as we all know, are becoming more and more prevalent. Scams run the gamut from new forms of money washing, prepayment schemes, partial payment schemes, planned repossession scams along with insurance fraud, auto theft, parts theft and the a laundry list of other schemes that are too lengthy to include here. All of these add to the cost of the companies that sell, service and lend on automobiles which adds to the cost of what consumers pay for all of it.

As a result, the cost of buying, owning, operating, maintaining and financing a car nowadays is continually rising at a startling rate, which is making an already serious problem even worse.

Even with the expected rate cuts from the Federal Reserve, if they do occur, will only reduce borrowing costs minimally. With all the other rising costs in the other areas of car ownership, I doubt things will get better anytime soon.

My suggestion is as always: Buy an older model car with the lowest miles you can find. Insurance rates can be lower with an older car, yet with lower miles, the car will likely last a lot longer and should prolong the time frame before it needs repairs. You might also avoid the single source higher pricing of patented parts making aftermarket parts more available and probably cheaper. As a general rule, older cars are also less complicated than newer ones and probably have a fewer number of those damn onboard computers that cost and an arm and a leg when they go bonkers.

And above all, don’t buy new. You immediately lose thousands of dollars, if not tens of thousands, as soon as you drive the car off the lot. Buy a one year older car if you must have a “new” type of car and let the first buyer take the hit. And if you prefer buying a one year old car in lieu of an older car, buy it from one of the car manufacture’s official dealerships. That way you can still get the original warranty and the official dealership cars usually have a good pre-check and are often called something like “Certified Used Car”.

That’s my two cents and I hope you save more than that.

“Watching the markets so you don’t have to”

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