Debt FactsWritten by Ian Young
In 2003, almost one and a third percent of US househoulds (about 1,650,000) filed for bankruptcy, indicating that bankruptcy may not have quite stigma attached to it as in other parts of world.Somehow, USA, with a population of about 294 million, managed to have over a billion credit cards in issue. That's over 4 cards for every man women and child. About 20,000 different cards are on offer from suppliers. Those credit cards, together with debit cards, account for a quarter of ALL personal expenditure in US. Debt is a fairly recent phenomenon. Before 1930's, most people couldn't borrow, even to finance property, and either rented homes or built them from scratch. Nowadays, mortgage debt runs in trillions. Personal debt excluding mortgages is about $19k per household on average, over half of which is on credit cards, a figure that is triple statistic of 1990. Nowadays, over 40% or US families routinely spend more each year than they earn. The difference? Financed by debt. Convenient to use? That credit card convenience ends up costing average Joe 12% more than paying by cash. If you only ever pay 2% minimum monthly payments, each $1000 you owe will take nearly 22 years to repay and will add a further £2,300 to bill, meaning you effectively pay $3,300. Despite this being common knowledge, almost 60% of credit card users DON'T pay their credit card bills in full each month. This reliance on high interest credit cards means that average US family pays about $1,200 in interest on their cards each year, at an average APR of 18.9%.
| | Wealth And Your Net WorthWritten by C.C. Collins
Wealth and Your Net Worth by C.C. Collins http://networthpublishing.comMost people know it's important to keep and organize all of your vital financial information. But knowing you should and knowing how are two different things! Once you know reasons for being very organized with your financial data (and keeping it all in a very safe place) I hope you will put organization on your net worth building to-do list (at or near top). You need to be able to see your financial strengths and weaknesses quickly. If you are an active investor, it's even more important that you do so. Time wasted on missing data and lost tracking information is money lost. Also, keeping an accurate and up to date personal net worth statement (personal financial statement) can help you get loans or other financing more quickly. It would be well worth effort to be able to give your financial institutions information they need at a glance. And your needs for same ability to query your net worth and data associated with accounts, investments, in and outgoing money, and other important data are very important. Be sure and carefully consider all portions of your net worth. Often forgotten components of your net worth are listed below in a handy checklist to get your data system in order and on track.
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