Credit Education

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, in the fourth quarter of 2017, mortgage debt in the United States reached $8.8 trillion, an increase of $139 billion from the third quarter of 2017. Mortgages comprise the largest amount of household debt, which increased for the 14th consecutive quarter. However, mortgage debt statistics vary widely across the U.S. states with the large disparity in median home value for homes with a mortgage ($137,300 to $602,700) and median household income for homeowners with a mortgage ($68,744 to $143,414), both affecting the ability to pay and the need to take out loans.

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Not long ago, some poor soul suggested (and probably instantly regretted) the reason millennial’s can’t afford to buy homes is because they spend too much money on avocado toast. While the digital outcry from millennials was instantly indignant, that indigence may have been justified.

Home ownership is difficult to achieve if you belong to the generation with $1.4 trillion dollars in student loan debt. However, it isn’t impossible for millennials to achieve the quintessential American dream of home ownership. While the median home price is roughly 1000 percent higher than it was when our grandparents bought their first homes right out of high school or trade school 50 years ago, there are many ways millennials can prepare themselves for home ownership, and none of them involve selling a kidney.

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The real estate website Estately recently conducted a study showing how the continued gender wage gap in America affects home affordability and ownership for women.

To answer this question Estately used 2016 U.S. Census data to compare men’s and women’s median salaries in the 50 most populated U.S. cities.

Based on those salaries (and assuming a monthly mortgage payment of 28% of the gross monthly income) the site used a mortgage calculator to determine the maximum home price each salary could afford. Read More

Credit cards are one of the best tools around for building credit. They’re easy to use, offer flexibility and (sometimes) rewards, and they directly affect many aspects of your credit score.

But you may want to build credit without the help of a credit card. Maybe you have trouble managing credit cards, or you simply don’t want one cluttering your wallet. Whatever the reason, there are other ways to build a strong credit history.

Here are nine ways to build credit without a credit card. Read More

The housing market in the U.S. has experienced a major uptick over the past two years. In 2016, existing home sales were the strongest they’ve been since 2006. More than a decade after the worst housing crisis in U.S. history, it seems we’re finally in a sustainable recovery period. Read More