People ages 45 to 59 are the most likely to refinance, according to Demos, a nonprofit public-policy organization in New York City.
The real estate bubble will eventually burst, says Cary Silvers, vice president of New York City--based GfK NOP, a market-research company that in 2004 gathered information on boomers' attitudes toward refinancing.
Steve Carbo, of the Democracy Project, a New York-based advocacy group that pushed for broader voter registration, said Iowa did far better than many states in implementing the provision.
Voter registration among the disabled and elderly in Iowa increased eight-fold between the 2000 and 2004 elections, Secretary of State Chet Culver said Wednesday.
Eighteen- to 24-year-olds have an average $2,985 in credit card debt, according to last year's Demos USA study, "Generation Broke." The average plastic debt for 25- to 34-year-olds is $4,088.
DEMOS, a New York-based public policy group that studies economic opportunity issues, and the Center for Responsible Lending, a Washington policy group focused on predatory lending, said low- and middle-income families fall into credit card debt to cope with income declines or unexpected costs.
According to the survey, 48 percent of respondents said they used credit cards to pay for car repairs while 38 percent reported paying for home repairs with plastic.
"The Plastic Safety Net," released Oct. 12 by policy research and advocacy groups Demos, the Center for Responsible Lending, and the AARP, reveals what's on our credit cards, why it's there, and what we're doing to manage our financial obligations.
The study found that most debt-strapped households use credit to cover unavoidable expenditures, not discretionary purchases. We're increasingly relying on plastic loans to pay our rents, mortgages, utilities, groceries, car repairs, and insurance premiums.
There are a slew of 401k reform plans out there, ranging from modest proposals for automatic employee enrollment (but undercut by the employee's right to opt out) to replacement of the 401k by a new system run by the government or a nonprofit organization. (For a useful description of the various ideas, see a study by Robert Hiltonsmith for Demos, a liberal think tank that espouses total overhaul.)
The Authorities Budget Office released a report today that identifies state and local authorities that have not filed a budget, annual and/or audit report for the most recent reporting period as required by new Public Authorities Law.
The Authorities Budget Office released a report today that identifies state and local authorities that have not filed a budget, annual and/or audit report for the most recent reporting period as required by new Public Authorities Law.
A new study about America's credit card debt from policy research and advocacy groups Demos, the Center for Responsible Lending, and the AARP shows that the most debt-troubled consumers are those who don't own their homes, even though their credit card balances are lower than those who are their own landlords ($6,880 vs. $10,296).
The fact that renters have a hard time dealing with debt than homeowners could be attributed to their having less disposable income -- a fact borne out in the survey results.
The average credit card debt of low- and middle-income indebted households was $8,650, according to the study from Demos and the Center for Responsible Lending.
The more stringent law comes at a tough time for American consumers. A survey released last week showed that total credit card debt now stands at about $800 billion. That is up 31 percent since 2000
One-third of low- and middle-income consumers are using their credit cards to pay basic living expenses - including their monthly mortgage, according to a new study.
CRL and Demos also found that even though consumers are using home-equity loans to pay down their credit cards, many households are still carrying huge card balances, increasing their overall debt levels.
Last week, New York-based consumer action group Demos and the Center for Responsible Lending released findings from a new report, "The Plastic Safety Net: The Reality of Household Debt in America." The survey results found that 7 out of 10 low- and middle-income families are using their credit cards as a safety net, relying on credit to pay for car repairs, basic living expenses, medical expenses or house repairs.
Households that reported a recent job loss or unemployment, and those without health insurance, were almost twice as likely to use credit cards fo
"The Plastic Safety Net" study found that middle- and low-income households were racking up credit card balances just to cover everyday expenses. One-third of the 1,000 survey respondents said that basic living expenses contributed to their current debt level.
"Appraisal fraud is part of a bigger, more ominous picture," says David Callahan, Home Insecurity author and Director of Research at Demos. "As home prices have continued to increase above inflation, even nearing 20 percent per year in some cities, American homeowners are vulnerable as never before to financial ruin if home prices fall to their natural market value."
"To make matters worse, an increasing number of Americans have reduced the equity in their home to meet rising living expenses, like education and health care, or to pay off credit card debts.
Professor Robert Frank of Cornell University, the author of Luxury Fever, compares conspicuous consumption in an economy like ours to the military arms race, and we already know that's destined to end in mutually assured destruction.
The key to countering this headlong rush towards ever-more expensive disappointment is to switch from conspicuous to inconspicuous consumption.
According to a Demos study, Americans from 2001 to 2003 cashed out $333 billion in equity from their homes. Many did so to pay off credit card debt and finance ongoing living expenses -- both good and noble financial causes.
The study concluded that Americans own less of their homes today than they did in the 1970s and early 1980s.
By 1995, there were more 401(k)s plans than traditional pension plans. Now there are about twice as many. And they're not working out that well, Robert Hiltonsmith, a policy analyst at the think tank Demos, shows in his paper "The Failure of the 401(k)."
The failure, experts say, basically, is this: The typical worker approaching retirement needs about $250,000 in a 401(k). Most don't come close. The average is closer to $98,000 - only a bit more than a third of the recommended amount.
By 1995 there were more 401(k)-type plans than traditional defined-benefit plans. Now there are about twice as many. And as Robert Hiltonsmith, a policy analyst at the think tank Demos, documents in a new report, they’re not working out that well.
Retirement experts say average workers approaching retirement need about $250,000 in their 401(k)s to maintain their standard of living. They don’t have it. The number is closer to $98,000—not much more than a third of the recommended amount.
Let’s talk about deficits for a moment. Not that $1.3 trillion federal shortfall that’s in the news these days (A CBS News poll shows that only a handful of Americans think that’s an urgent problem.) No, I’m talking about the gap between how much money people have presently put away for retirement and how much they would need to save to maintain their standard of living when they finally stop working. That deficit comes to a whopping $6.6 trillion, according to a new report by Demos, a New York think-thank.
According to Javier Silva, a senior research and policy associate with Demos, a New York think tank and public policy organization, homeowners' equity fell from an average of 68.3 percent to 55 percent between 1973 and 2004. Americans now own a smaller stake in their homes than they used to. In the 1950s, they owned nearly 80 percent.
If real estate appreciation slows or declines, homeowners without equity that is firmly established may find themselves owing more than their houses are worth.