Americans’ Biggest Money Concern
Welcome back to your Weekly Credit Loan Report. This week we’re talking about financial worries and debt, both personal and federal. We’ll also take a look at how the top five growth stocks have performed recently.
The annual percentage rate on credit cards rose slightly last week, from 14.96% the previous week to 14.97%. This may not look like a significant increase, but as with all things money, it builds over time. If you’re not paying off the full amount of your credit cards each month, you’ll be accruing a bit more interest if your creditor has raised their APR.
As it turns out, credit card debt is one of the lowest financial concerns on the minds of Americans. Only 24% of those surveyed said they were significantly concerned about the potential inability to make minimum credit card payments. The item of most concern? Not having sufficient funds to retire, which 66% of respondents named as a substantial worry. (It’s worth noting that these two items are easily intertwined. Paying off your debt sooner means you’ll have more money long-term.)
We took a look at the cities in the United States with the most average credit card debt. Coming in at number one was San Antonio, Texas, where the average amount of CC debt was $5,177. The close second was Jacksonville, Florida, followed by Honolulu, Hawaii and Dallas, Texas. The national average is about $4,200; all twenty-five cities on the list were above that amount by at least $325.
Last week we saw the amount of the USA’s national debt and its projected future. As it turns out, when we examine debt by the percentage of a country’s gross domestic product, the United States comes in at number twenty. Our national debt is only 101.1% of our GDP, and while that number is not quite desirable, it’s all about comparison. The country with the greatest amount of debt relative to its GDP is actually Ireland: its debt is 1,382% of its GDP–more than 10 times the United States ratio.
How did the stocks perform this past week?
Apple Inc., at 373.83, has dropped more than 30 points since our last report.
Barrick was at 46.29, dropping less than a full point.
Adobe Systems rang in at 23.30 and Associated Estates fell to 14.67: both also came in at around one point lower.
Alliance Holdings Group dropped just above a full point since the last WCLP, to 42.74. Hopefully next week brings better news for these high-ranking stocks.
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