Your credit score is nothing to be taken lightly. The FICO system is the most widely-used model in the US, and three main bureaus delegate your total score. How you manage your finances throughout life is what determines your score.

Below you’ll find everything you could ever want to know about credit scores, and what you can do to keep yours high.

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The EITC is the largest federal benefit program for working people, but only 4 out of 5 eligible taxpayers claim their rightful EITC each year. That means that 20% of people who could be getting free money don’t!

About 1/3 of the population able to claim the credit shifts every year, so just because you weren’t eligible last year doesn’t mean you won’t be this year–and vice versa.

Last year’s Awareness Day saw over 600 events, 15,000 assisted taxpayers and 57,000 people contacted via social media about the EITC.

Those who are married filing jointly and with 3 or more children are allowed the highest income bracket, $49,078 annually, to still qualify for the credit. They can earn up to nearly $6,000 from the IRS. With no qualifying children and no joint filing, the maximum income to qualify is $13,660 a year, but you may still qualify for several hundred dollars.

Be sure you’re looking at your correct bracket when looking to see if you qualify. Also, check to see if your city, county or state is one that offers its own separate EITC on top of the federal credit.

In 1997, there were fewer than 20 million American workers, and the EITC only doled out $30.4 billion total. But in 2011, over 26 million American workers earned nearly $59 billion, with the average worker getting $2,240.

California and Texas had the highest payouts, with $6.48 billion given to qualifying taxpayers. However, Mississippi handed out the highest average per worker at $2,610.

The EITC is especially vital for impoverished workers and their families–it pulls 6.6 million people out of poverty each year. And while other federal assistance programs do amazing work, the EITC has a wider reach and a bigger payout. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families served just under 4.5 million people in 2011–17% of the number of people who received the EITC. Federal awards in 2009 nearly reached $21.8 billion–but that’s still only 1/3 of the EITC payout.

According to the IRS, several types of eligible people are at risk for missing the credit, including those with changed marital/parental status, Native Americans, disabled people/those with disabled children, and more.

21% of US children live in poverty, and they can be helped immensely when their qualifying parents claim the EITC. Families need to earn about twice the poverty-level income in order to support a family of four.

Don’t miss out this year. Spread the word about EITC Awareness Day on January 27 and (if you qualify) claim your credit when you file!

It was recently reported that student loan debt is costing the US government $1,000,000,000! In fact, student debt has doubled in the last 5 years, while the number of students in college has remained the same and even gone down in some parts of the country.

Tuition costs for college students has also increased, with the average in-state tuition costing $7,600 and private school tuition costing as much as $27,000 per year (again, this is just the average). These high costs have caused college loans to be the 2nd largest source of household debt, which is a problem Obama is trying to solve by reducing the maximum payment required on federal student loans from 15% to 10%.

The government has also worked hard to limit the loans a student can take, based on their household status. Students who are still the dependents of their parents are limited to $31,000 in federal loans whereas independent students can take up to $57,500 in student loans. Luckily, not too many students are gaming the system, as only 0.5% of all students have accumulated over $100,000 in college loans.

The bootstrapped student trying to rely on credit cards should think twice, since the national average APR is now 14.99%. For students seeking ways to pay for college, they should consider personal loans, scholarships, and grants. The government is going to be tightening the purse strings soon enough, as a $1,000,000,000 student debt is hard to carry with a country that is in so much debt to collectors as is.

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Halloween, just a week from today, is an enjoyable holiday for all ages. There’s trick-or-treating for the young ones, parties and haunted houses for the older children, and scaring the trick-or-treaters that come to your door as an adult. But all of the efforts that go into making Halloween special can run up quite a bill. You open your credit card bill in November, just as the winter holiday shopping begins, and–BOO! You’re spooked by Halloween charges. Read on to learn stats about spending and tips to avoid exorbitant Halloween costs.

First, though, the National APR Average dropped last week, from 15% to 14.99%. Though that seems a small change, it’s notable that this is the first drop in the National APR for three months.

The National Retail Federation performed its ninth annual survey of Halloween spending habits this year. They found that 161 million Americans, or 68.6% of the population, plan to celebrate Halloween this year. That’s up from 63.8% in 2010. Spending is also the highest in the survey’s history, at an average of just over $70 per person for this year, and a total of $6.86 billion for the country.

Even though less than a third (32.1%) of respondents said the state of the economy will affect how they spend this Halloween, 87.1% are hoping to spend less this year than last year. Nearly 19% of them will accomplish this by making their own costumes, while 16.6% will reuse last year’s costume and 40.2% have resolved to spend less on candy.

For the large percentage of folks planning to save money on Halloween candy this year, a good tip is to buy generic brands or buy (securely wrapped) candy from the bulk section of the grocery store. You might be tempted to make your own candy, but this will scare parents, and not the good Halloween kind of scare. Another option is to get your neighbors together and split the costs. Go along with the 35.6% of folks who will reuse or make their own costumes this year, and you’ll be sure to save plenty of money. Practice vigilant safety this year to avoid unexpected medical bills. After Halloween, don’t rely on minimum payments, as you’ll end up paying more interest over time. And if you’re concerned about your APR, talk to your credit card company. Tell them about those better deals you’ve been finding, and you’ll likely hang up with a more manageable APR.

As for the top-pick stocks:

Apple clocked in at 398.55 last week, dropping about 20 points from our previous report. Stocks are somewhat unpredictable in the wake of the death of Steve Jobs and the release of the iPhone 4S.

Barrick Gold was at 44.70, a fall from 47.98.

Adobe Systems Inc, at 26.80, saw a growth of nearly .3 points last week.

Associated Estates reached 16.00, up just .07 from our last data.

Alliance Holdings’ 46.50 is a decline by just a tenth of a point.

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]]> http://www.creditloan.com/blog/2011/10/24/halloween-costs-united-states-consumers-6-86-billion-in-2011/feed/ 0 http://www.creditloan.com/blog/2011/10/19/how-the-economy-is-killing-americans/ http://www.creditloan.com/blog/2011/10/19/how-the-economy-is-killing-americans/#comments Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:12:08 +0000 amyballiett http://www.creditloan.com/blog/?p=18585 (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

With the current state of the economy, Americans are cutting back on basic necessities. Healthy nutrition and medical practices are declining; stress and anxiety are on the rise. See how the economy is really affecting our quality of life with this somber look at our mental, physical and financial health:

In the last year, there’s been a .6% increase in Americans who smoke. This is accompanied by a 2% decrease in Americans who say they eat healthfully all day, a 1.9% decrease in those who eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables 4 days a week, and a .7% decrease in those who exercise for at least 30 minutes 3 days a week.

Women have decreased their fruit and vegetable intake by 2.2%–men only 1.6%. People ages 18-29 have fallen off the most, with 2.6% fewer eating fruits and vegetables regularly. Hispanics are overwhelmingly the racial group with the highest rate of decline in eating fruits and veggies. They saw a 2.9% decrease in consumption in just one year.

The decrease in pay and job availability has affected workers on an emotional level. Over ¾ of workers–77%–say they constantly feel “burned out” at work, and 43% report their on-the-job stress level has increased in the last half year. This also costs the economy $300 billion a year in no-shows, accidents, insurance and medical claims.

Medical patients feel the economy has affected their health. 35% of people with heart disease, 21% of cancer patients and 39% of diabetics have reported the state of the economy to be impactful on their wellbeing. 19% of diabetics have skipped or put off medical appointments for financial reasons, while 15% have postponed tests. 18% have said they can’t follow the prescribed diets for their condition, either.

Credit cards can be a useful way to manage money, but are dangerous when applied to costs people can’t really afford: almost ¼ of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes patients have incurred credit card debt in order to pay for their care.

Almost 33% of Americans say the economy has affected their sleep, and economic woes account for about 30% of calls made to suicide hotlines. The strongest mental impact of job loss and pay cuts is depression, which 71% of laid off/fired people and 51% of recipients of a pay cut experienced. One in six Americans can’t afford the food they need–there are 49 million Americans without enough food, and 16 million of those are children.

Clearly, the economy affects not just our wallets, but every aspect of our lives. It’s important to monitor how financial matters affect friends and family, and ensure everyone gets through these tough economic times safely.

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There are several significant items in our weekly report today, so let’s jump right in with the first one.

The National Credit Card APR average jumped from 14.97% week before last to a full 15.00% last week. Note that it’s done nothing but stay level or increase since our reports began, so be sure to keep an eye on the APRs of your credit cards and consider switching over to get lower interest rates where possible.

Now onto a subject we don’t like to think about but can’t ignore: unemployment. The unemployment rate in this country has remained steady at about 9.1% for the last few months, meaning about 14 million Americans are jobless. But there are several states in our United States where the unemployment rate is much higher than the national average.

The state of Nevada is coming in at a staggering 13.4% rate of unemployment, over 4% higher than the nation’s percentage of unemployed persons. Next up is California at a significantly lower but still alarming 12.1%. Michigan drops to 11.2%, while Washington D.C. and South Carolina both have 11.1% unemployment.

The best states to live in for employment? Oklahoma looks wonderful compared to Nevada, at 5.6%. New Hampshire is a little better at 5.3% unemployment, while South Dakota breaks the 5% barrier and comes in at 4.7%. Nebraska has just 4.2% of its population unemployed. The state you are most likely to have employment in is North Dakota, with just a 3.5% rate of unemployment.

If you are unemployed, Hawaii is the place you’ll be best able to maintain your standard of living–it pays out 54.3% of average weekly wages, totaling $416. Rhode Island covers less than half at 45.9% or $380. Iowa gets 44.9% or $321, while residents in Kansas get 44.7% or $326 and North Dakota–which is the state with the lowest unemployment rate–is the fifth best payout at 44.6%, $310 per week.

The outlook isn’t good for those unemployed in these next five states. Delaware pays out just 27% of weekly wages–$247. Alaska and Louisiana also only pay 27%–$239 and $208 a week, respectively. New York is barely better at 26.9% or $303 per week, and the state that pays out the lowest percentage of average weekly pay is Arizona at 26.2% or $213.

On to the better news in stocks:
All of our stocks performed much better this past week.

Apple, Inc., which is definitely one to watch, shot up to 417.13, which is a vast improvement from the 370.66 of our last report.

Barrick Gold was up to 47.98, over a one point improvement.

Adobe Systems, Inc., at 26.54, was also up just above a point from the previous week.

Associated Estates showed about a half-point improvement, coming in at 15.93 over the 15.40 of last time.

Alliance Holdings came in as the second most improved last week, up nearly three points from the last report.

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This week in the Weekly Credit Loan Report, we’re looking at fraud. Identity fraud effects millions of Americans every year–and that number keeps growing. (Before we dive into that, though, notice that the national average APR on credit cards stayed constant at 14.97% last week.)

Identity fraud is a common fear, and with good reason. It can be destructive to credit scores, personal finances, emotions and more. In 2010 there were 11.1 million victims of identity fraud in the United States alone, and women were 26% more than men to be victimized. In a large portion of cases–43%–the stolen information stems from a lost or stolen wallet, credit card, debit card or checkbook. Identity fraud is incredibly costly to its victims. $50 billion of consumer money is lost annually due to fraud, and that averages out to about $4,849 per victim.

Once your information is stolen, the financial woes begin quickly. About 71% of the time, it takes less than a week for fraudulent activity to begin. Reporting identity fraud is important to protecting yourself and others, but it is commonly underreported. Before 2010, less than half of all victims ever reported their stolen information to the police. Since the number grew to about 50%, we’ve seen an increase in judicial action: double the number of arrests and convictions, and three times the number of prosecutions.

How does the information taken in identity fraud get used? It breaks down like this: 20% of complaints are about credit card fraud, 15% involve government files and/or benefits, another 15% relates to jobs, 13% phone or other household necessities, 11% banks, 4% loans and 24% other. In 6% of cases, it was only attempted identity fraud.

How are those top-pick stocks performing?
Last week Apple hit 370.66, dropping over 3 points from our last report. Time will tell how the death of former CEO Steve Jobs and the future of the company with Tim Cook will impact this tech giant, but it is the only stock in our group to have dropped last week.

Barrick Gold Corporation came in at 46.61, up slightly from our report last week.

Adobe Systems was at 25.23, which is up about 2 points from the previous week.

Associated Estates pulled a price of 15.40, up almost a point.

Last but not least, Alliance Holdings group was valued at 44.72, which, like Adobe, is about 2 points higher than our last report.

Check back next week for more news on credit, stocks and other financial matters.

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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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Welcome to the Weekly Credit Loan Report. We’ll have a new infographic with accompanying blog post for you every week, detailing changes in the stock market and up-to-date info on national and consumer finances.

The national annual percentage rate on credit cards remained steady last week at 14.96%. Americans currently save about 5% of their earned income, and they’ve been able to pay off household debt in amounts that have created an 8.6% rate of decline in total debt since 2008. In comparison, the United States accrues an extra $4 billion in debt every single day–$2.63 million per minute. This explains the current level of total national debt, at $14.8 trillion and growing. At this pace, the country will be in an additional $4.2 trillion of debt, totalling $19 trillion by the year 2015.

How did we get so far in the hole? The 111th Congress increased our national debt by more than the 1st through 100th Congresses all together, sinking the most money by far into Health & Human Services ($850 billion) and the Department of Defense ($720 billion) in 2010.

While less than one quarter of Americans feel they’d need at least $1 million to retire securely, nearly a third say they’d want between $100,000 and $500,000. If they had $1 million, what would they do with it? The most popular answers are investment and savings (31%), giving to family (17%) and spending (14%).

Stocks favored technology giant Apple Inc. (AAPL), which grew to reach share prices of 404.36 last week. Coming in at #2 for growth was Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX) at nearly 1/10th of the price–46.98. At barely more than half of Barrick in the #3 spot was Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) at 24.81. Associated Estates Realty Corp. (AEC) had a price of 15.64, and Alliance Holdings Group LP (AHGP) grew to 43.78 per share.

See you next week for updated credit, debt, loans and stock information.

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If you have good credit, you are probably under the impression that your credit card is a pretty good deal.  If you have bad credit, you know your credit card rates, fees, and service charges aren’t as good as someone sporting a niftier credit history than yours, but do you know exactly how much better off your credit card statements could look?

Unless you have an advanced degree in accounting economics and like doing recreational math problems, then you are probably like the rest of us: paying off your credit cards a bit at a time hoping to see your efforts chip steadily away at your balance until it reaches zero. Running the numbers might surprise you.  Doubling your minimum payment is great, but might not give you the expected pay off and pay down power you are after.

It is great news for the vast majority of the population whose definition of employment or enjoyment does not include the computation of compound interest; however, there are those brainiacs who are just weird in their love of complex math. They can do the math for us.  One such example assumes a credit card debt of $5000 paid off in one year’s time.  If your interest rate is set at 5%, your payment will need to be $428.04 monthly to guarantee a zero balance in one year’s time.  In the end, you will have paid $136.48 in interest charges.  Not too shabby, but if your credit isn’t stellar, there is no way your interest rate is set at a paltry 5%.

One of the realities of having bad credit is that when you are able to find a company willing to extend you a credit line, you will pay much higher interest rates for it.  A common interest rate for poor credit is 21% or more.  This makes the same $5000 dollar debt look very different.  To pay it off in the same 12 months, your payments are now over $37.00 higher per month at $465.57.  But the increase in the monthly payment is a mere love tap when compared to the bulked up total in interest charges. At 21% interest, you would end up paying $586.84, which is $450.36 more than the good credit rate of 5% winds up paying for the same $5k. Interest rates don’t cap at 21% either. Some bad credit cards carry interest fees of 29-35% or more.

Don’t get too smug if your interest rate is closer to the 5%, because that is not a guarantee it will always be that way.  One late payment could send your interest rate rocketing up to that 29% rate in a matter of one billing cycle. If you don’t believe it, check the fine print that comes with your statement each month.  Penalties and interest charges due to mismanagement of your account are printed there, and they can be downright scary.

Higher interest rates are not the only measure of a credit card for good credit vs. a credit card for bad credit.  To compare other fees and account charges click the graphic to the left.

In the end, the only real way to be certain your credit card payments will stay low, interest fees remain manageable, and a credit score will improve or stay high is to keep on top of your credit accounts.  Paying them off in full each month is best, and being certain to avoid extending your credit beyond your income will keep you sitting pretty.

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