Stephen Brobeck
Stephen Brobeck
Stephen Brobeck is the director of the Consumer Federation of America...
despite grew hardly house net rise wealth
Net wealth hardly grew despite a substantial rise in house values.
credit obtained scores
Those who have obtained their scores know significantly more about credit scores than those who have not,
aware believe build consumer debt trap
Most Americans are now aware of the consumer debt trap and the need to build wealth, but don't believe they can do so.
high interest low rather savings small
On some small accounts, the fees are so high and the interest is so low that the savings dwindle rather than accumulate.
card debt shifting trouble
Shifting debt from one card to another can get you in trouble if you just accrue more debt.
average banks billion cds consumers credit earn funds interest per recommend savings shift
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.
basically charge traffic
You basically charge what the traffic will bear.
credit employee extending prevents services small unions
It prevents credit unions from extending their services to small employee groups.
consumers coverage credit despite facts news past scores understand
Despite all of the news coverage about credit scores over the past year, many consumers still do not understand important facts about these increasingly influential numbers.
attention changes pay terms
It's important to pay attention to any mailings from issuers for changes in terms and conditions,
buy event good industry protection sells small
It's a small industry that sells protection in the event you can't make your payments. Essentially, you buy it and it's very expensive; it's not a good deal.
assets change household increases previous six typical
It's discouraging. What we see is little change in the assets of the typical American household between 2001 and 2004, after substantial increases in the previous six years.
bills gas heat higher households income last low moderate oil percent price project year
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.
banks borrowed dollars lose market money thousands
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.