Expert Q&A: Money

I want to buy term life insurance. How do I vet companies?

Seyed Mostafavi
Carmel, IN

Consider only companies that are A-rated by TheStreet.com's Financial Strength ratings, at www.thestreet.com/insurers/index.html. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners logs consumer complaints at https://eapps.naic.org/cis/fileComplaintMap.do.

My daughter got dinged with six overdraft charges before she added funds to her account. Shouldn't there have been only one overdraft charge?

Ann Somers
Brookline, NH

Your daughter was charged a fee for each purchase she made with insufficient funds. Most banks automatically allow overdrafts. They could warn you of low funds or decline a purchase, but they like overdraft fees—$35 per instance on average, the Consumer Federation of America says. Your daughter should ask to have some fees waived. She might also link her checking account to a savings account and set up overdraft transfer protection or move her money to a bank or credit union with better terms. Banks must get your OK for debit-card and ATM overdrafts beginning July 1 for new accounts and Aug. 15 for existing ones.

What's the easiest way to cancel a credit card?

Vic Strano
Sewell, NJ

If you want to close an account and aren't concerned that doing so might lower your credit score, pay off the entire balance. Then contact the card issuer's customer-service department to inform a representative that you've canceled the card and confirm that the balance is zero; interest might have accumulated between the date you received your monthly statement and when the issuer received final payment. Refuse efforts to keep you from closing your account unless the offer is too good to pass up. Get a confirmation in writing that the account is closed. A few months later, check your credit report to make sure the account is closed. If it's not, contact the card issuer.

Do warehouse clubs like Sam's Club backdate membership renewals?

Craig Losche
Berthoud, CO

Sam's Club uses the original expiration date when you renew within 60 days of that date. So if your membership expires on Jan. 1 but you renew on Feb. 15, your renewal will be backdated to Jan. 1. If you renew more than 60 days after the expiration date, they won't backdate the membership. Costco is similar. At BJ's, if you renew within a month of the expiration date, your renewal is backdated, but after that you get a new expiration date.

I was unable to use two nonrefundable tickets for a trip to Europe. The airline said I could use them for one year from purchase date. Is that my only option?

Jean-Pierre Enguehard
Houston

In most cases, nonrefundable means just that. You can see if there are any exceptions by contacting the airline's customer service. Otherwise, you can use the tickets within a year for the same trip or go to a different destination. You'll have to pay the price difference, even for the same itinerary, and you might face a change fee.

Send your questions to www.ConsumerReports.org/askourexperts.