Millions of Americans fight with credit card debt every day, and many of them carry that debt to the grave. The non-profit organization National Debt Relief has now launched a smartphone app to help those consumers get back on their … Continue reading
Middle-income Americans age 50 and older are now carrying more credit card debt on average than younger people, according to a 2012 study released by Demos. This is a reversal of the findings from the Demos survey which took place in … Continue reading
Young Adults Retreat From Piling Up Debt Total debt among young adults dropped in the last decade to the lowest level in 15 years. A typical young U.S. household, defined as one led by someone under age 35, had $15,000 … Continue reading
Americans are slowly borrowing more to finance purchases like homes and cars. Household debt, which includes mortgages, credit cards, auto loans and student loans, rose 0.3 percent or $31 billion to $11.34 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2012, the … Continue reading
Visa Ends Ban on Retailer Discounts for Specific Cards Visa is giving its merchants more flexibility in offering discounts to their customers, and reversing restrictions that prevented retail partners from offering special deals to customers that paid with a specific bank's … Continue reading
Young adults are carrying less debt than before the start of the 2008 recession, primarily because they own fewer major assets. A new analysis from the Pew Research Center released today shows that Americans under the age of 35 are … Continue reading
Credit card bills will soon arrive and show how much households spent during the holidays. Chances are good that many consumers added a few hundred dollars of debt to their credit card accounts which already averaged nearly $5,000 per cardholder. … Continue reading
The latest Flow of Funds Report from the Federal Reserve points to several positive economic trends. Household net worth rose by $1.7 trillion to $64.77 trillion. This was a 2.7 percent increase and was mainly due to higher home prices. … Continue reading
The fiscal cliff is getting closer to becoming a reality. The members of Congress and President Obama still seem far apart. Statistics and projections show the painful consequences with tax increases for many consumers. Higher tax payments will be bad … Continue reading
How Four Families Conquered Their Credit Problems A Federal Reserve Board report issued in June revealed that only about 39 percent of card holders carried a balance in 2010, down from 46 percent in 2007. Those balances average $2,600, compared … Continue reading
At first glance, the latest Federal Reserve figures are encouraging, showing that household debt fell by $74 billion or 0.7 percent in the third quarter. However, the decrease is almost entirely from mortgage debt which is the largest factor of … Continue reading
Rise in Household Debt Might Be a Sign of Strengthening Recovery American households are taking on more debt than they are paying down for the first time since the recession started. Some economists even see an end to the long, … Continue reading
Household debt rose at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 1¼ percent in the second quarter, according to the Federal Reserve Flow of Funds Report released Thursday. This was the largest increase since the first quarter of 2008 but only the second … Continue reading