• Nerdwallet research shows average household debt for 4Q17 increased slightly in every category but auto loans (see chart below*).
• Peer-to-peer lending may not be as disruptive to credit markets as once thought.
• Here is the lowdown on what higher interest rates will mean for borrowers.

Credit Cards

• You might want to consider these tips to get your financial house in order before applying for a credit card.
• Credit card companies and other lenders are facing increasing delinquencies and defaults which has led them to begin to tighten their standards.
• Millennials have shunned credit cards after living through the financial crisis and watching parents struggle with credit.  They are now the hot market for credit card issuers.
• Ron Lieber explains why airline credit cards remain so popular.
• Credit cards offering reimbursement for TSA and Global Entry make a trip through security faster.  Time is money, right?
• If you pull out your credit card, on which side do you find the number? Learn why the numbers are moving to the back of the card.

Auto Loans

• The US Senate voted to roll back CFPB fair auto lending rules—watch this space for the repercussions.
• We were getting used to seeing 0% interest rates for car loans, but their disappearance is inevitable as interest rates begin to rise,
• If you have to finance a vehicle with an 84-month lease (7 years!!!), can you really afford it?

Mortgages

• The mortgage business has a vocabulary all its own.  Here is your guide to the lingo.
• Subprime loans, the center of the housing bust a decade ago, are coming back with a new name: nonprime.

Business Financing

• Financing your business with your own money may seem like a great idea, but understand what you are getting yourself into first.

*NerdWallet research:

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