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Issue No. 1
The economy is front and center on voters' minds as markets slide, banks skirt collapse and the dollar is in freefall.
The mortgage meltdown, the credit crunch. Up and down investments, uncertainty in the job market, today issue No.1 is the economy. The nation's housing crisis has 1 in 10 homeowners underwater. That's 8.8 million families owing more than their home is worth, according to Moody’s economy.com.
And many of those could lose their homes. 900 thousand households are currently in foreclosure according to the Mortgage Bankers Association and Industry Trade Group. American debt doesn't help the problem. The average American household with a credit card owed nearly 10 thousand dollars in 2007 according to cardweb.com which serves the credit card industry. Adam Levin of consumer information website credit.com.
"It's a disastrous threat. Uh, It's a threat based on the fact that the more debt that you get yourself involved in, the less income you are gonna have available to pay for other things.”
If all that debt isn't enough to pinch your pocket book, the loss of value in your investment certainly could. The stock market continues its wild ride, tanking one day, soaring the next. Despite some positive signs this week, the market's still down dramatically for the year. And it's harder to save money when you are spending more for everything you buy. Gas prices for one are at record high. All this leads to fears of recession. And with recession comes the possibility of job losses.
"Job loss is about as serious a threat to your financial security as there is. It's not terrible right now. The problem is the trend is going in the wrong direction, jobless claims are creeping higher."
The bureau of labor statistics says 6,300 people lost their jobs in February and economists say that number will likely rise. Mix all of these factors together, it signals a threat to your bottom line, your issue No.1.
Gerri Willis, CNN, New York.
Notes:
Meltdown: an event resulting in great loss and misfortune
