(New York Post) - More American households are falling back into the debt hole, this time without the safety net of home values to help bail them out, the New York Post reported Sunday.
Last year, total US consumer debt reached its highest point in a decade, according to a credit card industry observer.
"Now more than ever, families need to work at saving and paying off any outstanding debts," said Howard Dvorkin, a certified public accountant and founder of the credit counseling service Consolidated Credit.
After a few months of reducing credit card debt levels, Dvorkin said, Americans are starting to return to their reliance on debt.
"People made some progress in reducing card debt earlier in the year, but in the last few months, as the stock market started to rise, they started to return to their old ways of charging things," he explained.
In December 2011, the total consumer debt -- which is the combination of non-revolving and revolving debt -- rose by some 9.3 percent to $2.498 trillion, according to the latest Federal Reserve Board numbers.
Both revolving debt and non-revolving debt increased. Revolving debt, which is credit-card debt, went up by 4.1 percent. Non-revolving debt, which includes loans for cars and education, rose 11.8 percent, the central bank's report said.
The trend -- month to month, quarter to quarter and year to year -- is rising steeply.
"Consumer credit increased at an annual rate of 7.5 percent in the fourth quarter. Revolving credit increased at an annual rate of 4.5 percent, and non-revolving credit increased 9 percent in December," the Fed wrote in a note along with the latest monthly report, which also reviewed 2011.
These numbers, Dvorkin warns, mean that many middle-class Americans are taking big risks.
In a weak economy with high unemployment, Dvorkin noted, many people with big card balances become vulnerable to financial catastrophe.
Lewis J. Altfest, a Manhattan adviser who targets professional, high-income clients, devotes part of his practice to telling the well-heeled how to cut back on credit card debt.
"It's still a big problem. Some people want to live life to the fullest even though they are using their cards too much," Altfest explained. He said many clients last year tried to reduce card debt. But some "are falling back into their old ways."
Indeed, last holiday season many consumers financed Black Friday trips to the mall and Cyber Monday online buying sprees by making purchases with plastic, Dvorkin contends.
"As the bills begin to roll in, consumers may find themselves unable to pay them off. It's good to see an increase in consumer spending, but never is it worth going into debt," according to Dvorkin.
Read more: New York Post
Monday, February 27, 2012
Credit Card Debt Nears Toxic Levels
Ohio school shooting: 1 dead; 4 hurt
One student was killed and four were injured in a shooting Monday morning at a high school in suburban Chardon, Ohio, authorities have reported.
A suspect was taken into custody, but his name was being withheld because he's a juvenile, said Chardon Police Chief Timothy McKenna. The suspect, who is believed to be a student at the school, has yet to be charged, the chief said.
McKenna announced the death and injuries in a televised briefing. The injured students were hospitalized, McKenna said, but he gave no additional details on their conditions.
Earlier, officials had said the gunman opened fire with a handgun in the school cafeteria about 7:30 a.m. The victims were found in three separate locations.
An adult forced the gunman out of the building, and he was arrested nearby, McKenna said.
The deadliest shooting at a high school was on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Colorado. Two seniors -- Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold -- killed 12 students and one teacher. They also injured 21 other students; three people were injured while attempting to escape. The pair later committed suicide.
Columbine was the fourth-deadliest school massacre in United States history -- after the 1927 Bath School disaster, 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, and the 1966 University of Texas massacre.
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Missing 2-year-old boy from Webster County found dead in pond, half-mile from family home
By JOEL McNEECE
A 2-year-old Webster County boy who had been missing since Sunday afternoon was found dead Monday morning in a pond approximately a half mile from his home.Kyle Mitchell, 2, was found at approximately 8:45 a.m. by a team of searchers that included Calhoun County officials.
Calhoun County law enforcement officers and firemen joined in the search for the 2-year-old before daybreak Monday morning.
Calhoun Sheriff Greg Pollan said 18 people from Calhoun had joined the coordinated search early Monday morning after an "amber alert" was issued late Sunday.
Mitchell was playing in the front yard of his parents' Tomnolen home when they noticed him missing around 3:30 p.m. Sunday, according to the Webster County Sheriff's Department.
In addition to Calhoun, officials from other surrounding counties joined in the search that included helicopters surveying the area. The land surrounding the home was described as "very wooded with tall grasses."
Oscar Wins for ‘The Artist’ Mark Record for a French Film - Businessweek
Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The five Oscars awarded to “The Artist,” a black-and-white tribute to the silent-picture era, marks a record for a French film as it beat out bigger-budget movies with more famous stars.
The mostly silent film, judged the best picture, won Michel Hazanavicius the award for best director. Jean Dujardin was honored as best actor for playing George Valentin, an aging film star unable to make it in the talkies, making the 39-year-old the first French actor to win the award.
The movie “seduced the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with its ingenuity and grace,” French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a statement. The awards are a tribute to the “extraordinary vitality” of the country’s film industry.