Many Americans are concerned about the national debt. The United States government has borrowed over $14 trillion (as of June 29, 2011), placing America as the #12 highest national debt in the world. Some financial experts are starting to raise questions about just how we as a country intend to pay it all back.
On April 18, 2011, the rating agency Standard & Poor’s changed the U.S. credit outlook to “negative,” indicating that the United States government was bing less creditworthy. In July, another rating agency, Moody’s, warned that it would cut the U.S. government’s AAA credit rating if the government misses making any debt payments (this is kind of like an individuals credit score decreasing because of missed payments).
What Does the National Debt Means for Your Wallet?
Clearly, the U.S. government Read more…
– Eurozone finance ministers have agreed to adopt new measures to strengthen euro area’s resistance to contagion risk from debt problems in Greece, amid heightened concerns that the troubles may be spreading to Italy, Eurozone’s third largest economy.
The Eurogroup said in a statement that the new measures include enhancing the flexibility and the scope of the European Financial Stability Facility , lengthening the maturities of the loans and lowering the interest rates, including through a collateral arrangement where appropriate.
These proposals will be presented to the ministers shortly, according to the statement. During the Monday meeting, the ministers tasked the Eurogroup Working Group to propose measures to reinforce the current policy response to the crisis in Greece.
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It may be too much for most people to fully comprehend the size of the government’s $14.3 trillion debt, so let’s put this in terms each of us can understand – yesterday the United States maxed out all its credit cards.
By law, the government is restricted to a debt ceiling of $14.294 trillion. This limit came into play on Monday and means the government is effectively prevented from selling bonds and taking on any further debt. The Treasury Department released a somber statement noting that by raiding the nation’s pension funds it could manage to meet the nation’s debt obligations until mid-summer, but unless new funds are available by then, the Treasury would have no choice but to default on some of the country’s debt obligations.
Mandatory Spending vrs. Discretiona
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New credit card rules went into effect in 2010, requiring that your monthly credit card statement include important information about how long it will take you to get out of debt if you only pay the minimum payment and what payment you need to make to rid yourself of the balance in three years. This information is included on your statement for your benefit; use it to your advantage to help you put together an actionable “get out of debt” plan for the next three years.
Gather Credit Card Statements
The first step in getting out of debt is to face the debt. Gather each of your credit card statements. Identi
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More Americans are swimming in debt than ever before because of the struggling economy and a high national unemployment rate. Because of the increase in financial problems, there is also an increase in the demand for debt consolidation loans and the services of debt consolidationpanies. The question is: should you be turning to thesepanies for help or is debt consolidation something you can tackle on your own?
What Is Debt Consolidation?
Debt consolidation is thebining of your debts into one payment. Typically, this is achieved by establishing a new loan that has a lower interest rate than the rates you are paying now. Several different ways exist that you can go about obtaining a debt consolidation loan.
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