http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www Buying things you don't need with money you don't have? Sun, 12 Apr 2009 00:35:19 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/78 Source: SMH New York's new masters of the universe are enjoying a golden age - thanks to increasingly exotic and risky credit derivatives. Stuart Washington reports. NEW YORK'S Central Park is a verdant green, and dappled sunshine plays on happy family picnics, Frisbee throwers and New Yorkers just lying around. But ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/77 Did you know that USA consumer debt has grown by over 2 TRILLION Dollars since 1957? Did you know this equates to owing the company store for every man, woman and child in the United States - $33,000! Did you know that this year USA INTEREST on national debt will ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/76 Source: The Age (AU) There is a palpable fear spreading throughout the barbecue belt as growing numbers of working families — classic "Howard battlers" — reach the limits of their capacity to service their borrowings. Paradoxically, it is this fear that could prove either the Coalition's greatest strength, or its greatest ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/75 Source: WTHR Indianapolis - MasterCard is warning its member banks about a rash of thefts from the bank accounts of card holders, some here in Central Indiana. Kristin is good about checking her checking account. "I check the account online every day." And good thing. When she logged on Tuesday ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/74 Source: NY Times Americans spent one in seven of their take-home dollars on debt payments last year, up from one in nine in 1980. Experts say few consumers are able to calculate the true costs of such payments. Behind closed doors, the decisions families like the Moellerings make about their debt ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/73 Source: thisismoney (UK) Credit card companies have found a new way to squeeze money from customers. Some have set minimum monthly repayments so low that they can actually be less than the interest charged. So the balance owed can increase - even if you do not spend anything. Lenders have been ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/72 Source: The Age (AU) Bank customers paid 21 per cent more in penalty fees to banks last year as they struggled to manage booming credit card debts, new Reserve Bank figures show. The explosion in penalties comes as Australia's credit card debt jumped by almost $5 billion to $39.5 billion, or ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/71 Source: Chicago Tribune Finally, beware of the credit card offers you will receive when you arrive on campus. These cards can be poison for your financial future. Most charge relatively high interest rates--often 18 percent or more a year. And if you miss a credit card payment, the interest rate can ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/70 Source: Scotsman.com A NEW generation is champing at the bit to finish their studies and join the world of work, but when it comes to money they are like lambs to the slaughter. Financial independence is full of risks and rewards, but as you can't put an old head on young ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/69 Axcess News reports that "According to the US Federal Reserve, consumers are borrowing at the fastest pace in four-months, despite the rise in gasoline prices and collapse of the housing market. Consumer credit increased at a 6.7 percent annual rate in March compared to a 2.8 percent increase the prior ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/68 The Monterey County Herald has taken a look at the consequences of credit card debt and found, like we have, that surveys clearly show that high credit card balances are a leading cause of divorce. Whether this is because the spouse knows or whether it is done behind the other's ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/67 Source: MoneyExpert Most British teenagers "lack awareness" when it comes to credit card borrowing, a new study has found. Debt charity Personal Finance Education (PFE) found that 90 per cent of adolescents felt that credit cards are an "easy way" to obtain funds that would otherwise not be available. And in ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/65 Source: The Mirror GREEDY banks are finding new ways to claw back cash from customers. Fearing a crackdown on charges, they are hitting back with new ruses. This is despite the "Big Five" - HSBC, Barclays, Halifax Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB and Royal Bank of Scotland - making combined ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/64 Source: Thrifty Scot The government has decided to take away our rights in an effort to put a stop to debt. This can make the most pragmatic economist shake their head. Less than five months ago the Bank of England was publishing reports that claimed there was no debt ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/63 Source: TVNZ The Commerce Commission has begun an investigation into unreasonable charges on late bill payments for credit cards. Collectively, New Zealanders owe almost $5 billion on credit cards. The Commerce Commission investigation has been prompted by similar action in Britain in which its Fair Trading Office found hefty late payment ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/62 Danny Schechter: "We live in a country where the credit and loan complex has become as powerful as the military industrial complex. There are 10 banks that dominate the credit card business. They basically operate with impunity." http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/61 Source: CBS2 Chicago Interest rates on credit cards have sky-rocketed over the last couple of years, leaving card holders with mounting debt. As CBS 2 Consumer Reporter Dorothy Tucker reports, people have more power than they realize to get bills down to size. Until recently, Rush Kittle felt powerless over the rising ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/60 Source: PRNW The Personal Credit Index(SM) is down 15 points to 90, which is the lowest level since November 2006. Here are some of the schoking numbers: Consumer financial concerns 38 percent are concerned about not being able to pay medical costs associated with a serious illness 28 percent fear not being able to ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/59 Source: Guardian Unlimited Borrowers struggling with personal loans and credit card debt are being pressured to take out consolidation loans that could result in the loss of their homes. Debt advice charities, including Citizens Advice and the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS), warn that lenders are increasingly pushing customers to extend ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/58 Source: Investor Daily Consumer watchdog Choice has hit out at banks for a surge in the number of people going bankrupt. Choice said aggressive lending practices were to blame for a nine per cent rise in the number of people filing for bankruptcy, along with interest rate rises and spiralling household ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/57 Source: American Chronicle When debt accumulates, you can get aid from your own bank if you have an account with a full service bank. If you deal with institutions that only profit out of credit cards, chances are they won’t want you to consolidate your debt. Thus, you need to understand ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/56 Source: Independent Financial Comparison (one, two) This is excellent. 1. Annual fees are making a comeback Throughout the Eighties and early Nineties, annual fees were the norm, as most credit-card issuers levied them. However, aggressive competition from the likes of the 'American Eagles' (Advanta, Capital One, MBNA, etc.) saw annual fees all-but-abandoned in ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/55 Source: Newsday There are some traps credit-card companies have laid for consumers that can trigger a spiraling financial crisis, potentially leading to an endless cycle of consumer debt. One such practice, known as universal default, permits the companies to increase interest rates if a cardholder makes just one late payment to ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/54 Source: AlterNet How do we stop the credit industry's predatory business model and get Americans out of debt when incomes aren't rising as fast as the costs of healthcare and housing? Last week, the FDIC and the Federal Reserve Board were forced to remind the nation's bankers to verify their customers' incomes ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/53 Merrill Lynch's buyout division and Pacific Equity partners are to buy Australian credit-approval company Veda Advantage for $661 million. The partnership between the US and Australian investment banks to acquire the largest business of its kind in the territory came after Veda's board unanimously agreed to the offer of $2.93 per ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/52 Source: Sunday Herald SCOTLAND'S GROWING debt crisis is set to take a turn for the worse, as tens of thousands of debtors face being chased for long-standing money owed from years ago - by collection agencies who may have paid just pennies to buy their liabilities. UK banks and credit card agencies ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/51 Source: MSNBC Many banks and card issuers include language in the agreement you sign that they can charge fees of $30 or more — or raise your interest rate to as much as 31 percent — if you’re so much as a day late making a minimum payment on your due ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/50 Source: Rebel Yell It’s the home stretch for seniors, halfway through their last semester. Job searches, grueling interviews and fancy resumes have placed the goal of actually making money in the forefront, but the threat of paying back student loans awaits. College tuition is rising far faster than inflation. On average, students ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/49 Source: Aberdeen News "If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as of getting." A mind-set such as this is rather difficult to find. Saving money seems to be either on the back burner or nearly impossible for many Americans today. In the eighteenth century, the enlightened thinker ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/48 Source: Mortgage Solutions The discovery that one in 20 teenagers does not believe that money borrowed on a credit card needs to be repaid must have made debt counsellors' hearts sink, while also reassuring educationalists that the introduction of lessons in finance into the school curriculum has not arrived a day ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/47 Source: Cardguide UK Over recent weeks a number of credit card companies and issuers have been announcing that they will be charging fees to customers that hold credit cards but do not use them. Card issuers have argued that these customers are actually costing them money because they have to pay administrative ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/46 Source: Alternet America is very wealthy country, but one has to wonder how much of our wealth is in fact a chimera, spun of a consumerist ideal and given the appearance of solidity by a flood of easy credit? How much poverty and real economic pain is covered up by an ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/45 Source: Courant.com The credit card industry is bilking millions of Americans. Since 1990, credit card debt has more than tripled, fueled largely by aggressive and reckless lending by card issuers. Today, Americans owe roughly $800 billion in credit card debt. Nearly 60 percent of cardholders carry a balance regularly. Seventy percent ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/44 Source: Nevada Thunder In addition to borrowing from the world’s poorest countries, Bush & Co. are secretly confiscating your hard-earned dollars to support their out-of-control spending habits. In short America has been living beyond its means for too long and the reckoning is looming. The consequences of delaying action to ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/43 Source: China Daily "Enjoy today's happiness using tomorrow's money" is a slogan that has been deeply rooted in the heart of many young credit card holders. However, a recent survey found that some of them are worried about becoming card slaves, a term used to refer to people pay only ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/42 Source: Stuff Nelson has had one of the highest increases in bankruptcies in the country, prompting a Nelson budget adviser to warn money lenders and spenders to be become more responsible. Finsec, the bank workers' union, is also calling on banks to change their pay systems so that bank workers are not ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/41 Source: El Paso Times Easy credit, predatory lending, trapped borrowers. As Americans rack up ever more debt, the winners are the big banks and real estate millionaires, and the losers are -- increasingly -- everyone else. So says filmmaker James Scurlock, whose new documentary "Maxed Out" casts a gimlet eye on ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/40 Source: Telegraph The Government is to remove all barriers to banks sharing data on us in a bid to curb irresponsible lending. But the potential for error is huge, writes Teresa Hunter The Government is poised to remove all privacy to our financial arrangements by allowing banks and other institutions to reveal ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/39 Source: Scotsman News It was introduced to help tackle credit card fraud, but now chip-and-PIN technology has been blamed for fuelling the ongoing rise in consumer debt. The claim was made by the online consumer advice service uSwitch.com, which said that the popularity of the new system has made it easier ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/38 Source: Sunday Star Times (NZ) Bankruptcies have reached an eight-year high and experts are warning people to reduce their personal debt. In the first eight months of this financial year, 2380 people have become bankrupt, a 22% rise on the same period last year. Until this year, bankruptcies have been rising ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/37 Source: Easier Finance From this weekend people will have a new home for their money as credit unions launch current accounts. Credit unions are financial co-operatives set up to give access to financial services to their members. Over the last 25 years the sector has seen massive growth and the introduction ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/36 Source: Cardguide UK For the first time the number of people in the UK seeking insolvency in 2006 broke the 100,000 barrier, illustrating the high consumer debt level problems that have emerged, with nearly one and a half trillion pounds worth of consumer debt in total. Banks have taken the hit ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/35 Source: AZ Central/WSJ Debit-card use is soaring, but a series of recent scams highlights the growing risk of fraud to consumers who use the method of payment. Thieves are always inventing new ways to steal consumers' account information, whether they use debit or credit cards. But debit cards typically put ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/34 Source: Washington Post The Washington Post received this question; "I have an annuity worth $10,000 from a lawsuit many years ago. I currently have about $15,000 in student debt. I'm planning on attending graduate school in a few years and was wondering if I should use that annuity to pay off ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/33 Source: USA Today USA TODAY states that the lenders who "are so incompetent that they extend credit to people who can't handle it deserve some of the blame and some of the bill" ("When interest rates hit 32%, there ought to be a law," Our view, Credit practices debate, Friday). The ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/32 Source: Daily Gotham One of the more alarming developments of life for ordinary people during the years of Bush Jr. has been the explosive growth of consumer debt. As it turns out, the reason for the vast increase in such debt because you and I buy too much. In fact, explained ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/31 Source: ABC News Another expert with a passionate opinion is Elizabeth Warren, a professor at Harvard Law School who teaches contract law, bankruptcy and commercial law. "The ideal customer is the one who is in serious financial trouble: stumbling, making a payment, missing a payment but making another payment, staying just barely ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/30 Source: Pahrump Valley Times According to Scurlock, incomes have risen about 1 percent in "real terms" in the past generation, while household debt increased over 1,000 percent. Scurlock cites the Federal Reserve in saying that 12 percent of young families were more than two months behind on their debts in 2004. ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/29 Source: HLS “Maxed Out,” a new documentary examining the proliferation of debt in America, was shown at an advanced screening in Ames Courtroom. Filmmaker James Scurlock and Professor Elizabeth Warren, a leading bankruptcy expert who appears in the documentary, were on hand after the film for a panel discussion. “Credit cards ... http://debt.worldwidewarning.net/www/archives/28