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Bankrate's archives contain more than 18,000 stories published online since 1997. It is our policy that any piece containing timely information must clearly identify the date when that page was posted or updated. Bankrate updates stories as time permits and as news events warrant, but such updates will not be considered corrections.

Corrections

Aug. 11, 2008 -- Bankrate's article on asset allocation presented an oversimplification of the results of a famous study by Brinson, Hood and Beebower. The article said the study concluded that asset allocation accounts for more than 90 percent of a portfolio's return. In fact, asset allocation accounts for more than 90 percent of the variance of a portfolio's return.

July 28, 2008 -- On Bankrate's Fed news page, Federal Open Market Committee Chairman Ben S. Bernanke was incorrectly identified.

May 14, 2008 -- In Kay Bell's story on deducting private mortgage insurance, the phase-out thresholds were incorrect. The deduction is limited for homeowners with adjusted gross income of $100,000 (single or married filing jointly) or $50,000 for homeowners who are married and file separate returns. The article was originally published March 7, 2008.

April 24, 2008 -- In an interactive story titled, "What can you buy for $400,000?" we mistakenly implied that Bangor, Maine, is a coastal city. The article was originally published April 14, 2008.

March 19, 2008 -- In the Bankrate story "Solo home sellers find FSBO help online," Phil Gons was touted as an FSBO success story after he found a buyer for his condominium in Greenville, S.C. However, the sale fell through when the buyer could not obtain financing. Gons is now using a Realtor to sell his home.

Feb. 8, 2008 -- The story "6 steps to better, cheaper car insurance" mistakenly implied that property damage coverage applies to the policy holder's vehicle. In fact, property damage coverage insures damage that a policy holder causes to another person's vehicle. The story was originally published Nov. 30, 2007.

Jan. 31, 2008 -- A story on Health insurance for the over-50 crowd incorrectly listed New Hampshire among the states that allow residents age 55 and older to continue COBRA coverage until they are eligible for Medicare. In fact, in New Hampshire, this applies only to the separated, divorced or surviving spouse of the policy holder. The story was originally published Jan. 22, 2008.

Nov. 15, 2007 -- A Dr. Don column incorrectly stated that a husband and wife who each have $100,000 as insured deposits in individual accounts are not eligible to have an additional $100,000 each insured in a joint account. In fact, joint accounts are a separate type of account ownership and as such have separate insurance limits. Coverage limits are up to a total of $400,000 in insured deposits for the two types of accounts. The column was originally published Nov. 8, 2007.

Nov. 8, 2007 -- A Real Estate Adviser column, "Home auction best left to pro" incorrectly stated that National Association of Realtors estimates that by 2010, one-third of all U.S. properties sold will sell by auction. The statistic did not come from the NAR. The column was published Nov. 4, 2007.

Aug. 7, 2007 -- A story about emergency savings strategies incorrectly stated that a $200 investment earning 10 percent would grow to $835 after five years. In fact, it would grow to that amount after 15 years.

May 22, 2007 -- An interview with the Frugal $ense winner incorrectly stated that plastics discarded as municipal solid waste in 2003 accounted for 26.7 tons. The total weight of plastic refuse in 2003 was 26.7 million tons.

April 23, 2007 -- We incorrectly identified Steve Brobeck in a story on retirement planning, published April 23, 2007. Mr. Brobeck is the executive director of the Consumer Federation of America.

April 19, 2007 -- A story on congressional hearings into foreclosures, as originally published, overstated the recent rate of foreclosures.

April 10, 2007 -- A column on retirement as originally published in September 2006 listed incorrect dollar amounts on the table.

April 6, 2007 -- A tax column on the Pension Protection Act originally published on Oct. 6, 2006 inaccurately stated that IRA beneficiaries could defer withdrawing inherited IRA funds until age 70 1/2. In fact, that is not true.

March 21, 2007 -- A story on medical tourism inaccurately illustrated the maps of Thailand and Singapore. The maps shown in the illustration have been corrected.

March 8, 2007 -- A Dr. Don column published March 5 incorrectly described Roth IRA contributions. They are made with after-tax dollars, not pretax dollars as the column originally stated.

Jan. 31, 2007 -- A column on how the young can get rich contained an inaccurate calculation pertaining to the example of Shirley, who beginning at age 25 invested $4,000 a year in a Roth IRA for 10 years and then stopped making further investments. At 9 percent, her nest egg would have grown to $806,303, not $1.3 million as the original article stated.

Jan. 24, 2007 -- A column on long-term care insurance, originally published Jan. 17, stated that beginning in 2010, consumers can take money out of an annuity tax free if they use the cash to purchase a long-term care policy. In fact, the provisions of the new law will allow consumers to have the cost of long-term care coverage subtracted directly from the cash value of a hybrid annuity-LTC product without having the payment be taxed as a distribution (however, the long-term care costs expended will reduce the annuity's cost basis). Hybrid products eligible for these rules do not yet exist. For more details, see the subsequent column published Jan. 25.

Dec. 28, 2006 -- An interview published Dec. 12 with TV chef Mario Batali incorrectly referred to the James Beard Foundation as the James Beard Society.

Nov. 27, 2006 -- A story titled "Housing design trends of the past and future," originally published Nov. 23, 2006, erroneously identified Bob McLemore as the founder and president of House Raisers Inc. The name of the firm is HouseRaising Inc.

Nov. 8, 2006 -- A story titled "Homes for multiple generations," originally published Sept. 14, 2006, stated that, "In 2000, the U.S. Census Bureau counted 3.9 million American households consisting of three or more generations living together, a jump of about 60 percent over the bureau's 1990 findings." In fact, the bureau counted 4.2 million households in 2000, which represents an increase of 40 percent over the 1990 findings.

Oct. 27, 2006 -- A story titled "Can traffic lawyers win your case?," originally published April 25, 2006, confused the terms "plaintiff" and "defendant."

Oct. 25, 2006 -- Our story about the most popular Halloween costumes of the season, first published Oct. 14, misidentified the superspeedy The Flash and Boy Wonder superhero Robin as Marvel comics characters. In fact, they are DC Comics superheroes. We regret this error; it is against Bankrate's policy, and just plain unwise, to cause offense to superhumans and superheroes.

Oct. 24, 2006 -- A story titled "10 alternative ways to cut college costs" has been clarified to indicate that the Pell grant is free money for eligible undergraduate students. As originally posted Oct. 10, it could have been construed otherwise.

Oct. 13, 2006 -- A pair of stories, "5 tips: Selling a house in a buyer's market," published Sept. 28, and "4 tips for buying a house in a buyer's market," published Oct. 5, misidentified the nature of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World. It is a national network of 650 regional and independent firms.

Oct. 10, 2006 -- The compounding power of interest, though mighty, was vastly overstated in a story first published Oct. 1. Corrected figures have been inserted into the story.

Oct. 5, 2006 -- In the event of the death of a member of the military, the surviving spouse receives a one-time payment of $255. In a story published Sept. 26, 2006, Bankrate incorrectly reported the amount. In addition, other benefits are available depending on children and other factors.

Sept. 27, 2006 -- Bankrate's state tax information on Massachusetts incorrectly indicated that the state levies a 12 percent tax on interest and dividends. In fact, interest and dividends are taxed at 5.3 percent in Massachusetts.

Sept. 22, 2006 -- A story about credit card myths erroneously oversimplified the question of who is able to look at your credit report without your permission. Access to your credit report is based, in part, on context -- whether it is an inquiry for medical, employment or credit purposes, for example. In addition, what's commonly called a "credit report" has more than one part, and while your name and address can be easily obtained for marketing offers, other information is more closely guarded and won't be released without permission. Nationwide, the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act sets the rules for who can view the reports under what circumstances, but it only sets a base line. States may, and some do, set higher standards. The story was first published in another form in 2003 and appeared in its present form July 1, 2006.

Sept. 6, 2006 -- A story headlined "Assisted living at your doorstep" as originally published on Aug. 30 erroneously stated that the average monthly cost, in 2005, of a private room in an assisted-living facility was $34,860; average cost for private quarters in a nursing home was more than double that at $74,095. In fact those are annual, not monthly, costs.

Aug. 23, 2006 -- A story headlined "Boomers retiring not so rich" as originally published on Aug. 7 contained a misspelling of a person's name. It said Brent Meiser is a certified financial planner and director of collaborative programs for the National Endowment for Financial Education. His correct name is Brent Neiser. Bankrate regrets the error.

Aug. 21, 2006 -- A story headlined "Housing futures to allay bubble fears" as originally published on Aug. 17 contained one sentence with two mistakes. It said the Chicago Board Options Exchange is a subsidiary of the Chicago Board of Trade; it is not. It said the CBOE has announced plans to introduce its own electronic housing futures exchange soon; it has not. The CBOE has announced plans to introduce its own electronic housing futures contracts soon.

June 14, 2006 -- An article that was first published on June 14, 2001, incorrectly stated that origination fees are not tax deductible. In fact, origination fees, commonly expressed in terms of points, are deductible as long as they are not paid in lieu of other fees, such as attorney or appraisal fees. Unfortunately, this misinformation was picked up and appeared elsewhere on our site, including in our Mortgage Basics. It has since been corrected.

May 29, 2006 -- An article first published May 22, 2006, incorrectly stated Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is also known as propane. Propane is Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).

May 12, 2006 -- An article first published in March 2002 and republished in January 2003 incorrectly described the restrictions on debt collectors. In fact, under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, a debt collector can lie about his or her identity and use an alias, as long as it is used consistently and the debt collector can be identified by his or her employer.

May 2, 2006 -- A column about "Getting a discount on inner peace" referred to a book as "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about TM, Including How to Do It." The actual title is: "Everything You Want to Know about TM, Including How to Do It." The column was posted on April 19, 2006.

March 7, 2006 -- An article about homes that cost about $400,000 in cities and towns across the country incorrectly identified the capital of Delaware. Dover is the second-smallest-state's capital. The article was first published March 1, 2006.

Feb. 13, 2006 -- An article headlined "Financing a manufactured home" erroneously said you could not deduct the interest paid on personal loans taken out to secure a manufactured home. Whether the loan is called a mortgage or not, the loan interest is generally tax deductible if it is used to secure a primary residence. The article was published July 22, 1999.

Jan. 17, 2006 -- A Tax Talk column on "Using equity from town house to buy new home" incorrectly stated that the interest on the town house's home equity line of credit (even if more than $100,000) could be deducted as mortgage interest on Schedule A. This is only true if the debt is secured by a qualified home, which is strictly defined as a main or second home. To qualify as a second home, the owner must use it more than 14 days a year or more than 10 percent of the number of days during the year that the home is rented at a fair rental price, whichever is longer. If these conditions aren't met, the home is considered a rental property rather than a second home, rendering the interest nondeductible. The column was first published Jan. 6, 2006.

Jan. 5, 2006 -- A column on strategies for increasing pay erroneously stated that a 3.6 percent base pay increase, when offset by a 12 percent increase in health-care costs, would result in a net loss of income. The column was first published Dec. 21, 2005.

Jan. 4, 2006 -- A story on increasing credit card minimum payments misspelled the name of the credit card issuer Capital One. The article was published Jan. 2, 2006.

Dec. 6, 2005 -- A chart detailing the costs of gift cards incorrectly stated that American Express charges a $5.95 fee to replace gift cards after their "valid through" date. Such replacement cards are free. The article was published Nov. 23, 2005.

Nov. 30, 2005 -- The story, "The cost of caring for your pearly whites," incorrectly stated that the American Dental Association recommends brushing your teeth for two minutes at a time. The ADA does not recommend a specific length of time for brushing. The article was first published Nov. 26, 2005.

Nov. 30, 2005 -- In an article titled "Boomers push interest in Universal Design homes," we incorrectly cited the Center for Universal Design as being part of the University of North Carolina. It is actually part of North Carolina State University. The error was first published Nov. 24, 2005.

Nov. 30, 2005 -- A story first published in January 2003 and republished in a slightly different form in November 2005 misstated the length of time that negative information could remain on consumers' credit scores. It stated that creditors could, at their discretion, stretch the ordinary seven-year limit by re-reporting bad debts twice more, so that bad debt information could remain on consumers' credit reports a total of 21 years. The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires credit reporting bureaus to remove "negative information" (defined as missed payment, late payment, no payment, charge off, collection) seven years from the initial delinquency date. No payments, or other activity on the account including selling the account to a different collection agency changes that original date or the requirement to remove the negative information seven years from the date. Even if a person pays the balance of an old closed account (past the seven year reporting date) it cannot legally be reported to the credit bureau because the account's initial delinquency date is past the seven year reporting period. Abusive creditors may try and have such old debts listed, however, they cannot be listed legally, according to the act.

Nov. 17, 2005 -- A column contained the statement that that the "typical American household has $20,000 in retirement savings and is on track to replace only 56 percent of its retirement income (counting pensions and Social Security), down from 59 percent last spring." It should have said that it was on track to replace 56 percent of its pre-retirement income. The article was first published Nov. 16, 2005.

Nov. 1, 2005 -- The article, "When it pays to stay single," contained three misstatements. Regarding federal benefits for the nursing home scenario, the original story erroneously referred to "Medicare" payments for nursing home care. While Medicare does cover some costs for short-term nursing care related to a patient's illness, long-term custodial care in a nursing home is covered by Medicaid. Secondly, the article stated, "If you stay unmarried and have no will or trust, all your assets will go by default to your next of kin, your children. Your partner will get nothing. Conversely, if you marry and don't have a will or trust, your new spouse will get it all, leaving your kids without an inheritance." While that is true in many states, some states follow the Uniform Probate Code, which calls for splitting the inheritance for people who die intestate. Thirdly, Bankrate erroneously stated, "There are a lot of widows out there who have their husbands' pensions. If they remarry, they would lose that pension income." Widows may not automatically lose their former spouse's pension benefits upon remarriage, but they had better check with the Pension Plan Administrator to make certain. The article was first published October 17, 2005.

Oct. 13, 2005 -- An article incorrectly spelled the name of Ranjit S. Dighe, associate professor of economics at the State University of New York. The article was first published October 12, 2005.

Sept. 9, 2005 -- An article listing the most and least expensive four-year liberal arts colleges in the United States incorrectly stated one of the least expensive was Judson College in Elgin, Ill. Actually, it was Judson College in Marion, Ala., which ranked among the least expensive. The article was first published Aug. 15, 2005.

Sept. 2, 2005 -- Two stories on Bankrate -- a Dr. Don column and a "College financing basics" -- misstated how Coverdell Education Savings Accounts are used in calculating financial aid. The federal formula for student aid considers such accounts the as the assets of the parent, not the student, if the parent is the owner of the account. The issue was settled by a 2004 clarification from the Department of Education. The Dr. Don column was first published Sept. 1, 2005; the basics article was first published May 1, 2005.

Aug. 15, 2005 -- An article on obtaining an insurance-claim history on a home before entering into a contract to purchase it incorrectly stated that Choicetrust.com is a division of the credit-reporting company Equifax. ChoiceTrust is the name of a product of the Choice Point Asset Company which began operations as the Insurance Services Group of Equifax. The two companies parted ways when Equifax spun off ChoicePoint to its shareholders in 1997. The article was first published March 15, 2004.

July 14, 2005 -- An article on stopping payments on checks incorrectly stated that payments on cashier's checks could be stopped the same way as personal checks. While that is often true, the rules for cashier's checks are different and can vary between institutions. The article was first published July 6, 2005.

June 8, 2005 -- In an article detailing how to receive free annual credit reports, we mistakenly said a consumer can request reports from all three major credit reporting agencies at once if they want to compare credit scores. The free reports do not include your credit score. Scores are available only for a fee. The article was first published May 2, 2005.

May 25, 2005 -- An article on reverse mortgages incorrectly stated that Congress recently raised the cap on FHA-insured reverse mortgages from $150,000 to $250,000 after the Department of Housing and Urban Development warned that originations of the FHA home-equity conversion mortgages were dangerously close to the cap figure. Actually, these figures should not be expressed as dollar figures, but rather numbers of mortgages allowed. Congress raised the cap on FHA-insured reverse mortgages from 150,000 to 250,000. The article was published on May 23, 2005.

May 5, 2005 -- An article profiling state taxes in Rhode Island incorrectly stated that the Ocean State's tax rate is 25 percent of the federal taxable income. The tax rate is actually 25 percent of the federal tax liability. The story was originally published in 2000 and has been updated yearly.

March 21, 2005 -- An article on finding the best in 55-plus housing communities incorrectly referred to such a development as being in Brownstone, Mich. The community is in Brownstown Township, Mich. The article was first published March 17, 2005.

Feb. 17, 2005 -- A road test review of the 2005 Honda Accord Hybrid incorrectly stated the vehicle features rear-wheel drive, when, in fact, the car has front-wheel drive. The article was first published Feb. 15, 2005.

Dec. 6, 2004 -- An article on sound systems available in 2004 model cars incorrectly stated the 2004 Acura TL had a matrix surround sound system. In fact, the 2004 Acura TL was the first production automobile to carry the new high-resolution ELS surround system, the first DVD-audio system in a vehicle to provide six independent and discrete channels of sound. The article was first published Dec. 19, 2003.

Nov. 15, 2004 -- An article about housing policy in President Bush's second term misleadingly mixed Kenneth Wade's statements with the author's conclusions regarding the mortgage interest tax deduction. Wade, chief executive of Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp., said that too many low-income families do not take advantage of the deduction. It was not Wade's conclusion that homeowners who don't take the home interest deduction would not miss its elimination.

Nov. 11, 2004 -- An update to a story on the capital gains exclusion for home sales misstated a change in the tax treatment of like-kind properties that are converted to primary residence status and then sold. The article was first published Oct. 18, 2004, and the like-kind change was added Oct. 22, 2004. The capital gains exclusion remains available to sellers who use a property as a primary residence for two years, not five as first reported, as long as the like-kind exchange was accomplished at least five years previously.

Sept. 29, 2004 -- A story about end-of-season car sales incorrectly stated the engine size of the Acura TL. The car has a V6 engine. The article was first published Sept. 23, 2004.

Sept. 8, 2004 -- A feature article on Kathy Ireland incorrectly stated that Ireland was on the cover of Sports Illustrated's swimsuit edition in 1984. It should have said she was on the cover of Sports Illustrated's swimsuit edition in 1989. The article was first published April 13, 2004.

July 21, 2004 -- An article on spyware that crooks are using to scam bank customers gave instructions for tweaking Internet Explorer's Outlook e-mail program to better protect systems from being scammed. The instructions were for opening e-mails in text only, and applied only to one version of Outlook. It should have said these instructions applied only to the most recent versions of Outlook. The article was first published July 2, 2004.

March 3, 2004 -- An article on co-ops and condos misstated the tax deduction status of co-ops. Real estate taxes paid by owners of cooperative housing corporation units are, in fact, deductible according to Section 216 of the Internal Revenue Code. The article originally was published Feb. 14.

Feb. 5, 2004 -- An article on the military's problems with payday lenders should have stated that the interest charged on a loan taken by Jason Withrow was 30 percent. The article was first published Feb. 2, 2004.