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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Restructured Chapter 13 Debt Limits Allow Individuals to Avoid Chapter 11
Earlier this year, Section 109(e) of the Bankruptcy Code was amended to increase the debt limits for individuals to file for protection under Chapter 13 Bankruptcy to $2,750,000 in total debt, and eliminated the distinction between secured and unsecured debt. Previously, the debt limits capped eligibility for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy at approximately $1,400.000 in secured debt and $425,000.00 in unsecured debt.
As a consequence of this change, business owners who may be burdened with substantial personal guarantees on business debt can now avail themselves of bankruptcy protection in Chapter 13 and avoid many of the administrative burdens ...
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NYC Taxi Bailout Plan May Provide a Bonus to the IRS
As an attorney who has had his finger on the pulse of the taxi industry since the crisis began in early 2016, I am compelled to comment when I think that an injustice is occurring
Although, on the surface, the NYC restructuring program with Marblegate/Depalma/Fieldpoint that formally rolled out on September 19, 2022 looks promising on the surface, an issue that had held the rollout back until now has not been adequately addressed - namely the tax consequence of the loan reduction.
Since this issue has not been adequately resolved, it has been buried in a general disclosure and disclaimer that most taxi owners may be missing since their ...
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Retirement Savings Down – Financial Stress Rises
Employees’ 401(k) accounts may have taken a hit during recent market volatility, but that’s not the only reason balances may be down.
A new study from Morgan Stanley finds 62% of employees have reduced their short- and long-term savings contributions amid high inflation and concerns about a possible recession.
Almost one-third of respondents reduced contributions to their 401(k) plans. Meanwhile, 26% said they’ve cut back on paying down debts, 25% reduced their long-term savings, 24% scaled back emergency and short-term savings, 19% whittled down contributions to health savings accounts and 13% reduced contributions to a college savings ...
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Car Prices Are Surging and Affordability is Decreasing
The purchaser of a new car financed an average of $40,290.00 during the second quarter of 2022, according to credit monitoring company Experian - an increase of 13.2% over the last year’s figure. The price of the average new car has also soared over the past year to $48,182.00 in July, 2022 compared with $42,736 in July 2021.
Overall, incomes have not kept pace with these increases, which have left many working longer than ever to pay off their new cars over ever-increasing terms. As of July, 2022, the average wage earner would need to work 42.2 weeks to pay off the average new car. In addition, the average borrower is now committing to ...
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