By My Budget 360 — The banking sector for the last decade has allowed many Americans to satisfy nearly every consumer desire they had. Boats, cars, vacations, clothing, recliners, Jacuzzis, or anything else you can imagine. Some took this to the extreme and created a massive market that demanded bigger and more extravagant homes even though average Americans were not getting wealthier or earning more money. How this was accomplished was by allowing massive amounts of debt to accumulate until a crisis imploded the economy. The credit bubble bursting has forced many into a new life of austerity. No more Sleeping Beauty castles.
Archive of posts filed under the My Budget 360 category.
FDIC Flashes Code Red – Banking System Insolvent and Expecting More Bank Failures
By My Budget 360 — The FDIC which technically supports the nation’s banking system is for all practical purposes insolvent. I’m not sure the magnitude of this problem has sunk into the psyche of the American public. The FDIC insures accounts at banks that include checking, saving, and CD accounts from a bank failure. This has occurred with regular frequency since the recession started 29 long months ago. Some 247 banks have failed since 2008 with a total asset base of $616 billion. The government has tried to calm the unsettled waters by raising the regular deposit coverage from $100,000 to $250,000 even though the FDIC deposit insurance fund is in the negative.
New Serfdom: 9 of 10 Top Occupations Pay $8 to $14 an Hour
My Budget 360 — The war against the middle class is silent and has grown since the recession started. We don’t hear much about this because in large part, those falling out of the middle class don’t have the funds to purchase airtime with the media who is wedded to Wall Street. 40 million Americans now receive food assistance. How often do we hear about this? Each month we add tens of thousands to this number yet we are somehow in a recovery? A recovery for which group of people is the question we should be asking. Clearly the middle class isn’t feeling this recovery. Nearly 17 percent of our population is underemployed.
The Great American Debt Purge – Americans More Stressed Out About Debt
By My Budget 360: Every man, woman, and child would owe an average of $43,000 if we divided up mortgage, credit card, student, and auto debt in the United States. Of course, this is based on the current population of 309 million. But we know this isn’t exactly accurate since an infant really didn’t charge up a credit card or take out a HELOC. We should break this down to each individual household. If we average this figure out over all U.S. households the amount comes out to over $120,000 per household. When 1 out of 3 Americans have no savings, how do you think many will be able to pay off their debt? For decades, the model has revolved around servicing debt and not necessarily paying the initial balance off. But many American families are feeling the deep psychological strain of an economy largely built on debt.
Mortgage Revolt Spreads: Strategic Default and Following the Bankers Example
My Budget 360: Living in California, the central hub of housing bubble mania, I have come to realize that many people that overpaid for homes are now quickly shifting their mindset to one of non-payment revolt. With the 24 hours news cycle and instant viral financial information, many are now realizing that strategically defaulting isn’t such a bad option anymore. In fact, this is now a significant strategy for many.
The Future of U.S. Housing: A Decade of Stagnation
By MyBudget360: The trend is rather clear. Housing is in for a long and hard struggle. Things are being held together with a thin string right now. With so many balls in the air, it is hard to envision what breaks the current back of the system. Wall Street hasn’t had any serious reform so there is no reason to believe that things are now somehow better. In fact, the too big to fail have now gotten even bigger. They are earning profits from merely stock market voodoo. The real economy is still languishing and current home data tells us that story in vivid color.
How Credit Cards Hid Middle Class Financial Decay
631 Million Credit Cards for 113 Million Households – Credit Card Excess Contracting for First Time in 40 Years.
Banking Propaganda and Using the Middle Class as a Credit Card for Wall Street Excess
How About we let the Average American Borrow from the Federal Reserve at 0 Percent and cut out the Loan Shark? The vultures are picking off every piece of what used to be the middle class.
The Middle Class Two Income Trap
Two Breadwinners plus Extra Money to support the Banking Industry. How Middle Class Americans are losing Ground by Supporting the Financial Sector.
