Financial related news.
One of COVID-19's impacts has been the reduction in interest rates, including those for auto loans. In June 2020, the average interest rate for new auto loans decreased to 4.2 percent, down from 6.0 percent one year ago, according to Edmunds. But Americans are buying more expensive vehicles, which means monthly payments have increased year [...]
WASHINGTON (AP) — American consumers increased their spending in June by a solid 5.6 percent, helping regain some of record plunge that occurred after the coronavirus struck hard in March and paralyzed the economy. But the virus' resurgence in much of the country could impede further gains. Last month's rise in consumer spending followed a [...]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s economy shrank at a dizzying 32.9 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter — by far the worst quarterly plunge ever — when the viral outbreak shut down businesses, throwing tens of millions out of work and sending unemployment surging to 14.7 percent, the government said Thursday. The Commerce Department's [...]
WASHINGTON (AP) — A grim picture emerged Thursday of a U.S. economy that has endured a record-shattering plunge last quarter and is now struggling to rebound as the coronavirus keeps forcing more layoffs. The economy shrank at a dizzying 32.9 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter, when the viral outbreak shut down businesses, throwing [...]
In general, using as little of your credit card limits as possible is better for your score. So logic would suggest that paying off your credit cards early so that a zero balance is reported to the credit bureaus would produce the highest scores, right? Turns out, having 1 percent of your credit limits in [...]
A new high school graduate may take out about $37,200 in student loans for college, according to a recent NerdWallet study. And for many of them, that won't be enough. Thirty-eight percent of students borrow additional money for college via credit cards, home equity loans and other non-student loans, according to a May 2020 report [...]
A reader recently reached out after his elderly mother died, asking how soon he could distribute the $10,000 she had earmarked in her will for each of her two grandchildren. Because she lived in California, I had to break the bad news: He won't be able to hand over the money any time soon. Probate [...]
NEW YORK (AP) — Bank of America's second quarter profits were sawed in half and the consumer banking giant set aside billions of dollars to cover potentially bad loans caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Earnings from the nation's biggest banks are painting a picture of American families and businesses struggling to pay bills with swaths [...]
Thanks to quick online applications and, in some cases, instant approval, credit cards make it as easy to build your credit history as it is to make purchases. But they can also make it easy to fall into debt if you struggle to pay on time or tend to spend more than you have. As [...]
NEW YORK (AP) — When the coronavirus pandemic caused a broad economic downturn and Depression-era unemployment rates, Washington responded with trillions of dollars in federal relief. One centerpiece was the $659 billion Paycheck Protection Program. Congress created the program to help smaller businesses and nonprofit groups — generally those with fewer than 500 employees — [...]