Household debt ratios for the third-quarter plummeted to levels not seen in more than 40 years. The Financial Obligations Ration (FOR) dropped 100 basis points (bps) over the past year, while the Debt Service Ratio (DSR) has declined 72 bps since the third-quarter of 2019, based on figures released by the Federal Reserve. The sharp…
Free tax filings were not widely known among low-to-medium income taxpayers as some commercial tax preparation services did their level best to hide them until the IRS got pissed. Trump’s trade war has made every American a loser to some degree, small to big, but nonetheless, losers. Despite demand for housing and low rate mortgages,…
Late credit card payments are increasing slowly but surely over the past five years and setting new records. At the same time credit card users have resumed piling on more debt. These two signs along with other economic and investment metrics point to a downturn in the coming year and most likely through 2020. For…
Mortgages and retirement can strangle a tight budget and require special planning to be successful. More than a third of older homeowners are approaching retirement saddled, to some degree, with a home with a mortgage. Compounding the struggle is half of retirees without a pension, just drawing mainly on Social Security benefits, will receive less…
For more than two decades the nation’s largest payment networks, top banks, numerous financial firms, trade associations and tons of non-profit consumer advocacy/education have all been preaching the same sermons to teach and develop responsible money management skills. The hard work spearheaded by Visa with “Practical Money Skills for Life” in the mid-90s has paid…
Financial and debt obligations for consumers plateaued in all four quarters of 2018, reflecting rising employment, lower credit card debt, and steady interest rates. The Financial Obligations Ratio (FOR) and the Consumer Service Ratio (DSR) for U.S. consumer credit remained flat in the final three months of 2018. According to the Federal Reserve, on a…
The unprecedented economic turmoil unleashed on U.S. consumers since December, by the longest U.S. government shutdown ever, is driving Americans’ bananas, heading to food banks, payday lenders and fighting off lenders and landlords. Tax Refund Mess Adding more insult to the financial injury is the reduced tax refund amount produced by last year’s Tax Cuts…
New research shows among the 50 largest metropolitan areas, single women own more homes than single men do. On average, single women own more than 70,000 more homes in metro areas than single men do. Becoming a homeowner can be a great decision for many people, but it isn’t the right choice for everyone. LendingTree…
Scrapping up a downpayment for a new home purchase is the tip of iceberg of home ownership. New homeowners should conduct research to ensure they are financially prepared. Non-profit Take Charge America offers these 5 tidbits Real Tips for Home Ownership 1 Calculate Real Cost of Home Ownership – A home comes with additional costs…
Millennials, struggling with staggering college debt, are buying really small homes. Making ends meet and dealing with unexpected expenses is a big challenge. Furthermore, places most favored by Millennials include Bay City, Michigan, Indian, Pensylvania and Aberdeen, South Dakota. According to the latest Ellie Mae Millennial Tracker more than half of single Millennial homebuyers last…
