“Americans don’t have a debt problem, they have a spending problem.” That conventional wisdom has been repeated so often that many folks will believe it uncontested. It doesn’t stand up to examination, however. What Americans have, quite clearly, is an income problem. Median adjusted household income has hovered between $50,000 [Keep reading]
Here’s another strong hint that technology is making us dumber, and more critically, less sympathetic people. British scientists published a study last month showing that second screeners — people who watch TV while playing with their cell phones, for example — have smaller brains in places where it matters: a [Keep reading]
Digital criminals inventing and exploiting identities out of thin air, rather than impersonating real consumers, are a fast-growing menace, according to a new report from fraud-fighting firm ID Analytics. This relatively new form of identity fraud, called synthetic identity fraud, involves criminals using random Social Security numbers, mismatched names and [Keep reading]
Some less-than-above-board debt collectors deploy a number of unsavory tactics while trying to persuade consumers to give them money, but none worse than this: trying to collect on debts that just don’t exist. It happens, often. Sometimes, bad records are to blame. Debt notes are often sold, re-sold and re-sold [Keep reading]
Everything we do, kind or evil, ripples through life like the waves that violently and then gently ripple out from a peddle dropped in a pond. Every act, part of a fabric. Many times, we won’t even live to see the consequences of our actions; or they are so distant [Keep reading]
John Southerland knows where every penny goes. In fact, after reading other Restless Project budgets, he sent me a spreadsheet detailing all of his family’s expenses for the past 10 years. And his perspective is simple: For his family, a middle-class income doesn’t support a middle-class way of life. “I [Keep reading]
Uber, the controversial digital-age private taxi service, is driving around something other than passengers today. It’s driving around nurses, offering free flu shots on demand to customers who request them, as part of a one-day experiment in New York, Boston, and Washington D.C. Ordering a flu shot is pretty much [Keep reading]
At church recently, a friend expressed shock that a family might pay $2,500 or so per month for their mortgage. “Their house must be too big,” she said, in essence. I objected, saying such house payments are pretty common. But I wanted to be more specific, so I worked with [Keep reading]
I’ve talked a lot in The Restless Project about how Americans’ work-life balance is non-existent — stolen by technology, the recession, and data-wielding companies. Today comes further evidence of that in a report that, with a nice twist, assigns a dollar value to it. Here’s the awful truth: You volunteer, [Keep reading]
Borrowers stuck with oppressive private student loan debts continue to get little mercy from lenders, which is bad for both consumers and the financial institutions, according to a report issued Thursday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. While distressed mortgage holders have several opportunities to appeal for lower monthly payments, and federal [Keep reading]
Bob Sullivan