Smart Borrower Blog

Archive for March, 2017

Millennials Promise Job Loyalty for Student Loan Help

Young American employees are finding it difficult to concentrate at work, according to a new survey by the American Student Assistance group, as they are constantly plagued by worries about how to repay their student loan debts. Millenials – those between the ages of 22 and 33 – have helped push the total amount of student […]

Credit Card Debt Nears Pre-Recession High

American consumers have been racking up credit card in a style similar to their pre-financial crisis habits, with spending predicted to reach a ten-year high by the end of 2017. Total outstanding credit card debt jumped to $978.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2016, a 7 percent increase from the year before and the […]

Federal Reserve Raises Rates to 8-Year High

The Federal Open Market Committee – an arm of the Federal Reserve – raised its target interest rate today, the second increase in three months, with the rate now barely back up where it was eight years ago at the end of 2008. The Fed upped its federal funds rate to the range of 0.75 […]

Business Borrowing Fell in January but Still Up from Last Year

U.S. small businesses borrowed less money in January, with borrowing falling to a three-month low, but it increased on an annual basis. The Thomson Reuters/PayNet Small Business Lending Index declined in January to 123.3, down 8 percent from 134 in December. That is the lowest level since October’s 119.8 reading. However, PayNet sees the dip as […]