As he read the newspaper in the morning, my father used to say, “The world is going to hell in a handbag.” It has taken a little longer than he expected, but I believe his statement rings true today. From terrible government policies to terrible presidents’ decisions, our country is falling apart quickly now. So
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The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is calling attention to the fact that the Federal government has officially become the banker for college students. Among the many line items in the two bills that make up Obamacare was the termination of the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program, moving student loans from the private sector to the U.S. Treasury. “The DL [Federal Direct Student Loan] program uses a different administrative structure and draws on a different source of capital than was used in the FFEL program,” said a CRS report published on March 4. “Under the
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Putting off starting a savings program until you pay off your debts is one of the worst financial moves that you can make. Waiting until your debts are paid off to start saving is a good way to ensure that you’ll never start saving and will always be in debt. The truth is that most of us will always have some debts, whether it’s credit cards, a mortgage, car loans, or student loans. If you make debt an excuse not to save, then you’ll always have an excuse not to save. You’ll never get into
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The government wants Americans to spend, spend, spend – but the average consumer is over it. Instead of doing what the government wants, millions of consumers are doing what’s best for their own lives: they’re taking a hard look at their finances and trying to dump their debt load. For some, it’s a matter of cutting back until they can catch up on payments. For others, it’s been a matter of mailing back the keys and declaring bankruptcy. Either way, for the first time in years, American debt levels are falling. It’s making individual households
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Student loan debt is a big problem for students today – and chances are it’s going to be a problem for them for the rest of their lives. The issue isn’t just how much the average student owes right now (about $24,000 at the time they graduate). The bigger problem is that if they don’t get that money paid back promptly, the federal government can take it straight out of their social security check – or the social security check of any older co-signer on the loan. The painful, little-known loan repayment clause Most students
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Overview No matter how you look at it, credit card debt is serious and it keeps getting more serious. You do not open your credit card bill every month to discover that your interest rate has magically lowered; you are usually lucky if you do not find that it has increased. Credit card debt is a mounting problem that will continue to grow unless you find a way to reduce it. If you simply ignore it, it will not go away; you will open your mail one day to find a minimum payment beyond what
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In Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution, our founding fathers gave Congress the sole authority “To coin money [and] regulate the value thereof.” In addition, in Section 10 of Article 1, they also proclaimed that “No state shall…coin money; emit Bills of Credit; [or] make any thing but gold and silver coin to tender in payment of debt.” Previous experience had demonstrated to the founders that sound money issued and regulated by a recognized governmental authority was necessary to ensure prosperity and encourage economic growth. Colonial America had experimented with paper money,
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Debt is a problem that haunts many of us for our entire lives. We rack it up when we are young and spend an eternity trying to pay it off. For those of us who bought homes or tried to finance our own businesses, the burden of debt can be especially high. The one grim comfort is the once we’re dead, it’s gone. Or is it? The Wall Street Journal recently reported that credit card companies and banks are stalking surviving family members to collect on the debts of the dead. Where they’re not doing
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American debt woes have most of us focused on the drama within our own borders, but it pays to look overseas. Europe’s debt crisis is turning into a grand game of posturing leaders and symbolic gestures by central bankers. However, underneath all the showmanship are some nasty, nasty numbers that just won’t go away. There’s no more “down the road” for many European countries. Within the next six to twelve months, most of them are going to have to put up some serious cash or shut up about some major changes. When it hits the
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Money, money, money … until we figure out a way to live without it, we have to figure out how to manage it. The statistics are not good when it comes to American finances. Most of us don’t have diddly-squat in our retirement accounts or our savings accounts either. Yet you don’t have to keep on being broke. In 2012, you have the chance to restart your financial future by following some smart money goals throughout the year. By next December, your finances and your future could be completely different. Take Inventory The first step
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