Posts Tagged ‘debt’
Older Americans are increasingly reliant on credit cards to cover basic living expenses
Nearly half of older Americans are reliant on using credit cards to cover basic living expenses they don’t have the cash for. And nearly 20% of this cohort consistently relied on this type of high-interest debt on a monthly basis over the past year, according to survey results released this week by AARP. These basic…
Read MoreRetirees Face New Challenge: Mounting Student Debt
Retirees will continue to face financial difficulties over the course of 2019, stemming from perennial problems like pensions, personal finances, social security benefits and even leftover debt from student loans. This is according to a column at MarketWatch examining the current state of the financial landscape for retirees, and accompanying data from the Federal Reserve…
Read MoreAlmost 30% of U.S. Households Have Just $1K Saved
Baby boomers and seniors who proactively set up retirement accounts have more than $100,000, on average, in savings than their peers who did not, according to a recent study by personal finance publication MagnifyMoney. But across the entire board, 29% of households have less than $1,000 saved in any type of account. Using data from…
Read MoreMore baby boomers are becoming renters
Older Americans from the baby boom generation are increasingly becoming renters after downsizing their existing homes, with experts attributing the move to competition in the broader housing market, according to data from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS). “Over the decade from 2009 to 2019, the total number of renter households was up…
Read More21% of Boomers Lack Savings for One Month’s Expenses
Yet another poll reveals that all generations feel unprepared when it comes to retirement savings — with 21% of baby boomers lacking adequate savings to cover one month of basic expenses, according to AARP. Co-commissioned with the Association of Young Americans, the “Three Generations Survey” asked baby boomers,Generation Xers, and millennials, a variety of retirement…
Read MoreWhat Mortgage Down Payment Do You Need? A First-Time Borrower’s Guide
Ask most people about the biggest obstacle to buying a home, and hands down, they’ll say it’s scraping together enough money for a down payment and closing costs. But understand a key point: This is not a separate and distinct issue from landing a mortgage. Lenders, after all, like to see clients lay down a…
Read MoreHow Often Can You Refinance a Home Loan? More Than You Might Think
Homeowners with a mortgage often hear about the benefits of refinancing—to snag a lower interest rate, reduce their monthly loan payments, and tap into their home equity. The list of advantages is long and enticing. But if you’ve recently refinanced but have seen interest rates drop even further—or start creeping up—you might wonder if you…
Read MoreMotley Fool: Home Equity a ‘Surprising’ Source of Retirement Income
While Americans have a multitude of potential options and avenues they can use to fund their life after completing a career, many Americans — including current seniors — often find themselves unprepared for retirement. This is why it may be necessary to seek out less traditional sources of retirement funding, and one such potential source…
Read MoreForbes: Reverse Mortgages Can Help Seniors Pay Down Debt in Retirement
One often overlooked tactic that seniors can employ when seeking to pay down outstanding debt in retirement is the strategic use of a reverse mortgage loan, one of several options that an older American can use when examining their finances during their post-working years. This is according to contributor Bob Sullivan and editor John Schmidt…
Read MoreHalf of U.S. Households Face Retirement Risk
Based on the recent release of the Federal Reserve’s 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), as much as half of today’s current American households are at serious risk of not having enough resources in retirement. Some of these risks can be mitigated with financial products including reverse mortgages, but more action is needed to fix…
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