Stephen Brobeck
Stephen Brobeck
Stephen Brobeck is the director of the Consumer Federation of America...
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On some small accounts, the fees are so high and the interest is so low that the savings dwindle rather than accumulate.
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The bottom line for consumers is potentially billions of dollars a year in additional charges, fees, and higher interest rates and lower yields on savings.
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We project for all households in the Northeast, oil and heat bills will be 35 percent higher than last year and that for households in the Midwest, gas bills will be 50 percent higher. Low and moderate income households will be clobbered by these oil and gas price hikes.
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Most Americans are now aware of the consumer debt trap and the need to build wealth, but don't believe they can do so.
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You basically charge what the traffic will bear.
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Shifting debt from one card to another can get you in trouble if you just accrue more debt.
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We recommend that consumers shift their funds from traditional savings to CDs and from banks to credit unions. If everyone did so they would earn about $40 billion more in interest annually. That's an average of about $400 per household.
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Net wealth hardly grew despite a substantial rise in house values.
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Those who have obtained their scores know significantly more about credit scores than those who have not,
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They simply do not understand the power of making small regular contributions.
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This is an important finding because those who know their personal wealth are more likely to spend, borrow and save sensibly.
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This is not on the radar screen of the banking industry right now. They're not interested in small depositors.
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Banks are hypocritical to seek bankruptcy restrictions when their irresponsible marketing and extension of credit card debt has been an important cause of rising personal bankruptcies.
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Banks are increasingly monitoring profitability. If you have borrowed a lot of money or have tens of thousands of dollars in a money market account, they won't want to lose you.