Thanks to the NY Federal Reserve we get access to all kinds of data about the credit and borrowing situation of ourselves and our fellow citizens. Here’s an update on where we stand.   Total Consumer Debt & Composition This chart shows what our consumer debt situation actually looks like. Obviously, mortgages make up the [...]

Most of us are aware of the costs associated with payday loans. Not necessarily because we’ve used those services, but because they became a topic of great discussion during and after the financial crisis. Most payday lending stores will offer a customer something like $350 today if they pay them back $400 in two weeks. [...]

Taken literally, such a headline probably wouldn’t surprise many people. But this is actually a good thing. New York City has a problem. They’ve got a lot of kids that end up in jail. And about half of them are very likely to end up in jail again. This is counterintuitive to the point of [...]

Since the housing crisis Americans have been in a world of hurt. We overbought and under-saved. Then jobs were lost and housing prices fell. When faced with the choice of feeding our kids or paying the mortgage, we chose kids. As a result, defaults on loans jumped. In Lake County, California percentage mortgage balances in [...]

Correlations are a popular topic in the press. There’s always some new study showing the correlation between something or another. Like the correlation between poverty and pregnancy, and speaking English and your personal finances. But correlations aren’t always helpful. On the one hand, correlations can lead you to the wrong assumptions. On the other, they [...]

On this episode we catch up with the Department of Justice. The DoJ, after 7+ years has finally decided to go after the ratings agencies. At various points in the history of this recession the banks, insurers, mortgage brokers, Wall Street, Congress, the real estate industry, the Fed, economists, and very likely you have been [...]

Great news out of the Federal Reserve last week. Our debt service payments as a percentage of disposable personal income are at lows not seen since the 1980s. If you aren’t familiar with this statistic allow me to explain. Debt service payments are any payments you make each month towards a debt. Disposable personal income [...]

Once upon a time not long ago, lawyers were respected and made lots of dough. Parents would brag about the fact that their kid is in law school. It was like if you were in med school or law school it was a ticket to the good life. Med school still maintains that reputation but [...]