海角大神

Your paycheck doesn鈥檛 stretch far enough, and the stock market routinely clobbers your retirement account. You may not feel financially secure, but in many ways your money is a lot safer than it was a decade ago.

The financial crisis of 2008 and the subsequent recession prompted a bunch of reforms that are helping you keep more of your hard-earned cash, even if you鈥檙e not always aware of the safeguards.

Here are five of the most important changes:

1. It鈥檚 harder to get a mortgage you can鈥檛 afford.

In 2006, all you need to get a home loan was a pulse 鈥� and sometimes you didn鈥檛 need that. One type of mortgage fraud was the 鈥渁ir loan,鈥� where brokers invented properties and borrowers.

The mortgages that real people got were often unsustainable. In the go-go 2000s, mortgage brokers and other lending professionals earned more if they steered you into risky loans with payments that exploded upward after the teaser rate expired.

These days, most loans are made using 鈥渁bility to pay鈥� rules that require lenders to make sure you can聽afford the mortgage聽you鈥檙e getting. It鈥檚 more paperwork, because聽lenders have to document your income, assets, and other debts 鈥� but that鈥檚 the way banks made loans in the old days.

鈥淚t鈥檚 absolutely a throwback to much of the lending that occurred before the explosion of subprime lending,鈥� said Yana Miles, policy counsel for the Center for Responsible Lending.

2. Credit card issuers can鈥檛 change your rate on a whim.

Before the聽Credit Card Act of 2009, credit card companies could change your rate for any reason or no reason. One way they did this was known as 鈥渦niversal default,鈥� which meant that if you missed a payment on any of your credit accounts, your rate could skyrocket on all of your accounts, even if you were up-to-date on the others.

The act聽killed universal default and allowed issuers to raise rates on existing balances only if the borrower聽misses two consecutive payments. Carrying a credit card balance still isn鈥檛 wise, but at least you won鈥檛 face a huge rate hike if you pay on time.

3. 鈥淏ounce protection鈥� has (mostly) bounced.

Banks made billions with 鈥渂ounce protection鈥� or 鈥渃ourtesy overdraft鈥� that approved ATM and debit card transactions when customers didn鈥檛 have enough money in their accounts.People often didn鈥檛 realize they鈥檇 been signed up for this 鈥渟ervice鈥澛爑ntil they were charged $25 to $35 for each overdraft transaction.

鈥淭hat allows you to pay $38 for a $3 cup of coffee,鈥� said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director for the U.S. PIRG, a consumer advocate.

Now banks are required to ask if you want to sign up for this coverage. When offered a choice, most people wisely say, 鈥渘o thanks.鈥� A better option: keep track of your balance and consider聽true overdraft protection聽that鈥檚 tied to a savings or credit account. (Here鈥檚 a look at聽typical overdraft options聽at big banks and credit unions.)

4. Predatory colleges have been put on notice.

Corinthian Colleges was one of the largest for-profit education chains with its Everest, Heald and WyoTech brands. But regulators say it advertised programs it didn鈥檛 offer, faked job placement rates and used illegal debt collection practices.

The chain collapsed in 2014聽after the U.S. Department of Education briefly cut off access toCorinthian鈥檚 lifeblood: federal financial aid.

Now, to maintain access to the federal loans and grants they need to function, for-profit schools must prove that their average graduate鈥檚聽student loan payment聽eats up less than 20% of discretionary income, or 8% of total earnings.

On Feb. 8, the Department of Education announced it would create a new聽Student Aid Enforcement Unit聽to more quickly investigate complaints of illegal conduct by schools receiving financial aid.

Will this prevent people from taking on egregious debt for overpriced, sometimes useless degrees? Of course not. But it has signaled to the for-profit colleges that the Wild West days are over, and they will increasingly be held accountable for the promises they make.

5. Someone is listening.

Consumer protection used to be scattered among a bunch of federal agencies that聽rarely treated it as a priority. If you had a problem with a credit bureau, for example, you could file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission 鈥� but you couldn鈥檛 expect a response. FTC warns on its site that聽it can鈥檛 resolve individual complaints.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, by contrast,聽can and does respond to individuals. And the bureau takes enforcement actions based on those complaints.

鈥淚n just a few years, the CFPB has already returned over $11 billion to families who were cheated by big banks and other financial institutions,鈥� says Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, who helped set up the bureau. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 government that works for the American people.鈥�

The CFPB has returned $3.45 billion in restitution and $7.75 billion in principal reductions, canceled debts and other relief to affected individuals.

鈥淲e鈥檝e got an agency that鈥檚 squarely focused on consumers and being really serious not just about compliance with the law, but with the spirit of the law,鈥� said Lauren Saunders, associate director of the National Consumer Law Center. 鈥淧eople can make a complaint, and it doesn鈥檛 just go into a black hole.鈥�

We can鈥檛 go backward

The fact that the CFPB takes action has made it many聽enemies.聽Many banks, lenders and big Wall Street investors would love to see it go away, so they can get back to making money on the backs of outmatched consumers.

They know that no matter how smart you are, or how well-educated about money, you can still be outwitted and duped by companies that put profits over treating people fairly.

So we need to remain vigilant, both in our own personal finances and in protecting these advances. As memories of the 2008 financial crisis and recession fade, you鈥檒l hear more about how these reforms weren鈥檛 necessary.

The reforms were essential, and it鈥檚 up to us to make sure our lawmakers and regulators remember that.

Liz Weston is a columnist at NerdWallet, a personal finance website, and author of 鈥淵our Credit Score.鈥� Email:聽lweston@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @lizweston.

This article first appeared in NerdWallet.聽