Your cell number is your cell number, and you’re not changing it. You’d lose contact with too many people you care about. Unfortunately, everyone else has it, too. If you’re getting debt collection calls, you may have other things to think about in terms of your overall financial picture. But here’s how to handle a call from a debt collector. Be calm, take it easy. Do not get crazy just because a debt collector calls you. Crazy doesn’t help. Just calm down. It’s two people talking on the phone. Remember, you’re being recorded. Don’t become yet another YouTube fail. Be your usual placid, easy ..read more

You don’t have to have a perfect credit score. Few do. Yet having good credit is important for getting good interest rates on credit cards, mortgages, and vehicle loans. Employers look at credit scores, too, when making hiring decisions. Even if you have a suboptimal credit history, you can boost your credit score by avoiding these credit killers. Top 4 Credit Killers Serious delinquency. Old accounts that have been on your credit report for a long time are the number one credit killer. Credit bureaus will assume (algorithmically) that you do not care enough about your credit to fix small pro ..read more

Since the Covid-19 pandemic took hold in the DC region earlier this year, many notable and storied restaurants impacted by coronavirus have permanently closed. Industry analysts forecast that 40 percent of restaurants in the U.S. will close in the next six months without more federal financial aid. With infection rates on the rise, public health experts are warning of a grim winter. Even when an effective vaccine becomes available, the public will still be reticent to flock out to restaurants. Right now, the public at large in DC is too scared and too sensible to sit down and eat at a restaur ..read more

Covid-19 is Also a Reallocation Shock, a recent white paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research, makes some troubling predictions for the U.S. economy. The researchers anticipate a drawn-out economic recovery from the Covid-19 shock, even if the pandemic is largely controlled within a few months. They also estimate that 42 percent of recent Covid layoffs will be permanent job losses. And the longer it takes to resuscitate the economy, the larger the fraction of recent layoffs that will turn out to be permanent. This graph displays the expected sales reallocation rate from October 20 ..read more

Economists now agree that the American economy has entered a recession. Since March 2009, America has witnessed history’s longest bull market in which the S&P 500 rose 330 percent. Unfortunately, the party is over. The deadly and highly contagious coronavirus has shut down our economy. Since March 2020, tens of thousands of Americans have died, and tens of millions of Americans have lost their jobs. With stay-home orders in place, America has put on its sweatpants. Recession is upon us. The woe is not limited to the United States. The International Monetary Fund says that the world econom ..read more

Do you remember the moment when you ripped open your first paycheck and saw the harsh reality that it’s just not enough money? Learning the difference between gross and net pay, setting up a budget to cover bills, finding ways to curb expenses. All of these are jarring lessons in “adulting.” Just as important is learning how to save. A 2018 survey from Northwestern Mutual found that 46 percent of Americans have not taken any steps to prepare for outliving their savings. An additional 21 percent have nothing saved at all. How to save when your net income is meager How can you save today while ..read more

As a bankruptcy lawyer, I get debt collector calls multiple times a day. When I file a bankruptcy for a client, my number becomes associated with all of that client’s collection accounts. So I get lots of calls verifying representation and validating debts and checking account numbers. Many times, creditors simply want to know our timeline for filing the bankruptcy. Shady debt collector calls Most of the calls I get are just fine. But some calls are misleading and even shamelessly deceptive. Just listen to this downright shady voicemail I got the other day. Hi. This is Brian Moore, compliance ..read more

Student loan debt in America just keeps growing and now totals $1.6 trillion. As CNBC reports, hardly anyone is paying down their loans. Only 51 percent of borrowers who took out loans from 2010-12 have made any progress at all in paying down their debt. And since the Great Recession, student loans represent the fastest growing segment of U.S. household debt. 44.7 million Americans have student loans as of 2019. On average, each borrower has nearly $40,000 in loans. So where can borrowers turn to for student loan debt relief? Student loan debt servicers According to a new report by the Confer ..read more

In 2019, for the first time ever, the number of personal income tax filers in Washington DC who reported earning $100,001 or more topped any other income group. As reported by the Washington Business Journal, the District of Columbia had 354,901 total filers in 2019. And 87,759 of them reported earning at least six figures. The next largest group of filers earned between $25,001 and $50,000. That’s a wide gulf between the haves and the have-nots. Living in Washington DC is expensive. DC housing is expensive Zillow tracks the median home value in Washington DC. As of today, a home at the median ..read more

According to a new study, getting out of debt reduces anxiety and improves cognitive function. You can improve your decision-making ability by getting rid of your debt. The psychological costs of servicing debt Chronic indebtedness afflicts rich and poor nations alike. One in four families in the lowest income quintile in the United States spend more than 40 percent of household income on servicing their debts. The mental costs are debilitating. The psychological costs of (or “debt mental-accounting costs”) exacerbate financial hardship because the repayment burdens divert resources from more ..read more