By Eric Olsen, Executive Director, HELPS
Nonprofit Law Firm
I just got off the phone with a senior couple who have a timeshare they can’t afford and don’t use any longer. They had called a company who advertised that they help people get out of timeshares. (I hear such advertisements on the radio and television
Borrowing
Do you use your credit card for most purchases? Are there times you prefer paying with your debit card? Perhaps you still use those funny green paper rectangles with numbers on them?
Cash hasn’t been forgotten, especially for smaller payments. A new study by CreditCards.com shows that 45% of consumers who have rewards credit cards
Is a home purchase on your to-do list over the next two years? You’ll have plenty of competition finding your new home, according to the latest PenFed Credit Union National Mortgage Survey.
The survey found that 37% of American adults are planning to purchase a home within the next two years. Over half (52%) of
EMV cards, otherwise known as “chip” cards for the embedded information chips they contain, were touted as the next great advancement in credit card security. According to a new study from Visa, EMV cards have lived up to their promise.
Visa discovered that as of March 2018, counterfeit credit card fraud is down 46% for
Credit Scores Trending Upward Congratulations, America! Your average FICO credit score reached 704, continuing the upward trend of the last eight years.
According to a recent FICO blog, the 704 average score is the best average ever recorded on the 300-850 standard FICO scoring scale. America’s average score sank to 686 in October 2009 thanks
By Roshni Chowdhry, head of customer experience at SafetyNet
Of the 17 million Americans currently enrolled in college, 74 percent qualify as what we used to call “nontraditional” students:
One in five is 30 years or older.
About half don’t rely on their parents for money.
One quarter are caring for a
Further Rewards for Good Credit You’ve worked hard to keep your credit score high. Why shouldn’t you be rewarded for your effort?
Banks agree and are looking for innovative ways to urge you to keep your credit score as high as possible. Financial institutions have always used negative reinforcement for poor credit scores – higher
Clerks at most department stores or retailers often ask if you’d like to apply for a store credit card, pleasantly pitching special deals and perks that the credit card provides. Why not accept? How can you go wrong opening another account?
When you’re tempted to accept a store card offer, think of two things –
Your credit score affects many aspects of your financial life. It affects your ability to qualify for loans and credit cards, and the interest rates that you’ll pay if you do qualify. It may affect your credit card limits, rental fees or deposits, utility services, and cell phone/cable bills.
Can your credit score also affect
Miss a credit card payment, and you’ll suffer the consequences. Your credit score will drop significantly, since on-time payments are the number one factor in determining your credit score. You’ll pay late fees and possibly incur a penalty APR. Interest charges will pile up on your unpaid balance.
So why do so many Americans miss
If you have a low credit score and want to buy a home, your odds of getting a loan have improved. A study by the Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) shows that credit scores for new mortgage originations have been dropping, suggesting that lenders are slowly relaxing the tight credit policies imposed after the housing crisis.
According to the Federal Reserve’s G.19 Consumer Credit report, America’s outstanding revolving debt – mostly credit card debt – was closing in on $1.04 trillion as of June 2018. How will we pay all that money back? An increasing number of Americans may not be able to do so.
ValuePenguin analyst Joe Resendiz calls credit
According to Federal Reserve data, student loan debt has surpassed $1.5 trillion and comprises 11% of America’s collective household debt balance – second only to mortgage debt. More than 44 million Americans have student loan debt, with an average balance of around $33,000.
Given those statistics, you might expect student loans to be the biggest
By Stephanie Braun, Director of Auto Product Management at Esurance
Companies have collected data on their customers for decades. It allows them to offer more tailored services and products, and provide more relevant messaging. The reason data collection has gotten so much press lately is because it’s reached unprecedented levels. Already, we create 2.5 quintillion
Can you believe someone was able to borrow money online to buy basketball trading cards? Not just any card, but a Michael Jordan rookie card that could be worth six figures! While millions of people have borrowed money online to buy a house or condo, we found a social worker from New Mexico who used
There’s a lot of financial advice out there, from the Wall Street Journal to podcasts to your brother-in-law’s stock tips to “A penny saved is a penny earned.” The infographic above, developed in collaboration with the Common Cents Lab at Duke University, shows six simple steps to get your finances on sound footing.
By Haden Kirkpatrick, Esurance Head of Marketing Strategy and Innovation
Despite the majority of cars being parked 90 percent of the time, cars are the second biggest expense in the average American’s budget. Aside from the actual purchase of the vehicle, owners also must pay for maintenance, insurance, repairs, gas, and cleaning costs. And don’t
America’s cumulative student loan debt has topped $1.5 trillion, surpassing credit card debt as the second greatest debt burden behind mortgages. How will we pay it off? A study by the Brookings Institution suggests that approximately 40% of Americans won’t be able to pay off their loans and will end up in default by 2023.
We often hear about skyrocketing student loan and credit card debt, but a different type of debt is growing at a faster rate than either of those. According to data from the credit bureau Experian, debt from personal loans rose by 11.4% in the second quarter of 2018 compared to the same quarter in 2017
Bankruptcy is a painful process at any point in life, but it’s especially excruciating when you are at or near retirement age. There’s no time to recover and build retirement income.
Unfortunately, seniors are declaring bankruptcy at an increasing rate. A recent study from the Consumer Bankruptcy Project found that the rate of Americans at
According to Federal Reserve Data, student loan debt reached $1.52 trillion in March of 2018. Women hold approximately $900 billion of that total.
Why do women hold more in student loan balances? A recently updated report from the American Association of University Women (AAUW) suggests that several reasons combine to shift the student loan burden
Reverse mortgages can be a useful tool for seniors attempting to convert the equity in their home into cash for living expenses or other retirement purposes. The loan is usually paid out over time instead of as a lump sum.
There are no repayments as long as the senior taking out the loan
Have you checked your credit report lately? If not, what’s keeping you from doing so? A recent survey by WalletHub found several reasons, ranging from complexity to fear.
Your credit report is a history of all your loans and credit transactions as reported to the credit bureaus. The information in your credit report is used
By Sandra Parsons
Credit utilization is a fancy name for how much of your available credit you’ve used. It’s one criterion used by the three major credit bureaus to calculate your credit score. Why do they care? Because your credit utilization is an indicator of the extent to which you rely on credit.
How credit
Cleaning Up Credit Reports In April, we reported on the upcoming rise in credit scores thanks to the National Consumer Assistance Plan (NCAP). The NCAP was created by the three major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) as part of a settlement with state attorneys general. The NCAP objectives and other actions by the bureaus
Credit card issuers generally offer a grace period that allows you time to pay your bill without incurring interest charges on your purchases. The grace period usually lasts two or three weeks from the end of the billing cycle, and will be incorporated into the due date on your bill. Pay your bill in full
A construction lien, otherwise known as a mechanic’s lien, is a claim that is made against a property by a contractor, subcontractor, or other professional party involved in a construction project. These liens exist to protect construction professionals from non-payment for materials or services rendered.
If you are withholding payment to a contractor for a
Your credit score is one of the primary items that lenders check when they consider loaning you money. A lower score means greater risk, and lenders will charge you a higher interest rate because of that difference – but how much could it cost you over the lifetime of a loan?
According to a new
Waiting to Buy According to a new study by the Urban Institute, millennials are waiting longer than previous generations to enter the housing market. Approximately 8% fewer millennials of ages 25-34 own homes as compared to baby boomers and generation Xers at the same point in their lives.
Why are millennials late to homeownership? The
Are you having trouble saving money while simultaneously dealing with excessive credit card debt? Mobile savings apps such as Digit and Qapital can help you establish an automatic saving routine – but Digit has introduced a new Digit Pay feature to assist with paying down credit card debt while you save.
According to
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