Rent delinquency rates among US small businesses increased significantly this month, a new report shows, Bloomberg News reported.
About 37% of small businesses, which between them employ almost half of all Americans working in the private sector, were unable to pay their rent in full in October. This is according to a survey from Boston-based Alignable, a network of 7 million small business members. This is an increase of seven percentage points from last month and is now at the highest pace this year, the survey showed.
The survey of 4,789 small business owners was conducted between Oct. 15 and Oct. 27. The findings partly reflect how ...
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Credit Card Balances Return to Pre-Pandemic Levels
Credit-card debt recently reached a new milestone - it has returned to where it was before the pandemic.
Total card balances in the U.S. hit $916 billion in September, nearly identical to December 2019 levels, according to the credit-reporting firm Equifax Inc. Balances are up 9% from January and about 23% higher than their pandemic low in April 2021.
Card balances fell sharply in the early months of the pandemic after Americans, out of work and stuck at home, cut back on spending. Stimulus checks later padded savings accounts and allowed many to pay down costly debt.
When the economy reopened and people went back to work, ...
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Mortgage Rates Reach New Highs
The average rate for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage has topped 7% for the first time in 20 years - almost double the rate 12 months ago - making it much harder for would be home buyers. Further, the pace of home sales has declined for eight consecutive months as frustrated buyers give up, unable to afford higher payments.
The weekly average for a 30-year fixed rate loan is now 7.08%. That's the highest level since April 2002. Rising rates have also slammed the lid on home prices, which have declined 1%, according to the latest reading of a closely watched home price index.
This trend will likely accelerate in the coming months. ...
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Inflation is Depleting Emergency Funds
Inflation is taking its toll on American's emergency funds.
The share of workers who say they are living paycheck-to-paycheck has surged among middle- to high-income earners — 63% and 49%, respectively — up from 57% and 38%, respectively, a year ago, according to a survey of almost 4,000 workers released this week by online loan specialist LendingTree. Overall, 65% percent of employed consumers were living paycheck-to-paycheck in September 2022 — up from 60% a year ago.
Millions of Americans face rising prices on essential goods and services such as food and rent as their savings are drying up after a post-pandemic spending splurge. ...
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Seniors Are Falling Further Behind – A Warning For Future Generations
Recent surveys are showing that while overall poverty rates in the United States are falling, they are rising for Americans over age 65.
According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data, the share of older people (over 65) living below the poverty line rose to 10.3% in 2021, up from 8.9% in 2020. The increase means that an additional 1 million older adults have fallen below the poverty threshold, bringing the total number of seniors in that unfortunate category to nearly 6 million, according to an analysis by the National Council on Aging (NCOA).
Another organization, The Senior Citizens League, a Washington-based advocacy group, ...
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Tips To Deal With Financial Stress
Inflationary pressure is pummeling consumers from every angle, so it’s more important than ever to get yourself financially fit to best deal with what could be coming in the months ahead.
All of our everyday items, from the simplest grocery items to the weekly fuel fill up for your car -even the movement of stocks on the NASDAQ Index – these all have huge flow-on effects to the American consumer, especially for small business owners.
As we move from a global pandemic to the highest inflation rate in years, there’s no wonder why the cost of living is increasing. As we emerge from the restrictions from COVID-19, it’s paramount to get ...
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Minimum Wage Workers Cannot Afford to Live Alone
In many major U.S. cities, minimum wage workers need to clock in over 50 hours each week just to be able to afford rent on a one-bedroom home, a recent survey conducted by United Way of the National Capital Area found.
In New York City, minimum wage earners would need to work 111 hours to afford to rent a one-bedroom.
United Way used data from the National Low Income Housing Coalition to calculate the number of hours a minimum wage worker would need to put in each week in order to afford rent in the 50 biggest U.S. cities.
There are only two cities on the list where a worker earning minimum wage can afford to work less than 50 hours ...
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Money Issues Having an Impact on Mental Health
October 10th was World Mental Health Day, and the 2022 World Mental Health Day theme was, “Make mental health and wellbeing for all a global priority.”
Finances are a huge stressor for many, and if you want to make mental health a priority, alleviating some of the anxiety surrounding money management is a good place to start.
42% of US adults say money is negatively impacting their mental health, according to a recent survey from Bankrate and Psych Central. The survey polled 2,457 adults about how finances affect their mental state. Feeling stressed is the top response to finances, according to 70% of survey respondents.
Other ...
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Record Consumer Debt Not Affected by Higher Interest Rates
American consumers are now more indebted than ever. A recently released Federal Reserve Consumer Credit report shows that U.S. consumer credit outstanding has reached historic levels as outstanding consumer credit is now at $4.7 trillion. In August, consumer credit increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 8.3 percent. The previous rise in July had been 6.%.
These current levels of consumer debt show that the Federal Reserve raising rates has not slowed down consumer borrowing. While consumer credit declined in the years immediately after the 2007 – 2009 financial crisis, since the second quarter of 2011 until the second quarter of ...
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Student Loan Relief in Bankruptcy Back on the Table
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Rep. David N. Cicilline (D-R.I.), Chair of the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law, have introduced a bill that would give Americans overwhelmed by student loan debt the option of obtaining meaningful bankruptcy relief.
According to a press release, the "Student Borrower Bankruptcy Relief Act of 2022" proposes to eliminate the section of the Bankruptcy Code that makes private and federal student loans nondischargeable, allowing these loans to be treated like nearly all other forms of consumer debt.
"This legislation updates the federal bankruptcy ...
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