Coy Smith and his wife were getting up to 16 phone calls a day, all to discuss the same topic — how they planned to pay off the thousands of dollars in medical bills their family had racked up after facing a series of serious healthcare issues. By 2023, the family was more than $30,000…
Rising U.S. prices are squeezing household budgets, causing more Americans to fall behind on their debt payments, recent financial data shows. The share of seriously delinquent auto loan balances has hit a record high this year, while nearly 13% of credit card balances are seriously past due — close to their 2010 peak in the…
Residents of this otherwise normal neighborhood in Huntsville, Alabama, saw the strangest sight this summer: a boy dressed up like a banana. “And I open the door, and he’s standing there with his little bag,” one neighbor told CBS News. Leah Farrow told CBS News her son, Soren Griffin, is autistic. And although doorbells have…
More than 75 million Americans rely on Social Security checks each month to help them get by. But sometimes recipients get a financially painful surprise: a notice from the Social Security Administration that their retirement or disability benefits were overpaid — often by thousands of dollars — and that they need to repay the money….
“Buy now, pay later” loans were originally promoted as a way to help consumers afford small purchases, such as electronics and clothing. Now, financial firms are also pushing the loans as a means for people to cover essential expenses, such as rent, groceries, electricity bills and even medical costs. Consumer advocates warn that using BNPL…
People with federal student loans may be eligible for a break on their monthly payments — if they act before an upcoming deadline. Student loan borrowers can earn a stepped-up interest rate discount of 1%, compared to the usual 0.25%, if they enroll in the U.S. Department of Education’s automatic payment feature before Sept. 30. …
