Latest news with #financialStruggles
Independent Singapore
06-07-2025
- Business
- Independent Singapore
S'porean earning under S$3K asks: How is everyone affording flats, holidays, and maids?
Photo: Depositphotos/ amenic181 (for illustration purposes only) SINGAPORE: Scrolling up and down social media, it's easy to be overwhelmed by the high points – pals and families snapping pictures of their new HDB apartments, interesting holiday retreats, and the jubilant bedlam of expanding families. But underneath the surface, many are silently grappling with an exacting question — How are they making all these possible? A current Reddit post put this predicament in honest, relatable terms. The user, with an income less than S$3,000/month with CPF contributions and wrestling with health problems, asked the internet: How are people able to afford to buy flats, take several outings, raise kids, and sometimes, with maids? The disparity was unambiguous—while some people appeared to prosper with maids and regular retreats, the poster wriggled just to get by. This post hit a chord. The responses were an enlightening glimpse into the often-unseen layers of Singapore's economy and society. One common theme was the divide between median salaries and individual experiences. While the median monthly income with CPF is nearly S$6,000, that figure only says a small fraction of the story. For most, having an income less than S$3,000 is a hard-hitting truth, particularly with escalating prices and overall cost of living, healthcare expenditures, and the burden of financial commitments such as car loans and credit card debts. See also Artist claims he has sex with Mona Lisa 'Big commitments can lock you in,' one commenter said. 'If you lose your job, those loans don't disappear. The stress can be crushing.' Others indicated that the 'lustrous lives' on social media frequently are often just a façade of hidden struggles. A couple's Instagrammable holiday snapshot may conceal marital pressures; the delighted owner of a condo might be deep in debt. This selective sharing produces an impression of uniform success that isn't generally accurate. Several commenters voiced disappointment with the job market. Fresh graduates, in spite of the headlines hyping S$4,000+ beginning salaries, often face cut-rate job propositions. This conversation is a strong reminder that the economic challenges confronting many today aren't always evident. Underneath stories of accomplishment and beautiful lives, many are facing tough choices and privations. Usually in silence.
ABC News
01-07-2025
- Business
- ABC News
House prices surge but some homeowners face having to sell up
Falling interest rates are driving house prices higher, but the RBA isn't cutting fast enough for some homeowners, who are behind on their mortgage repayments and face losing their homes.
The Sun
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
I'm a UC mum & used to get £4.3k a month – I called anyone who worked ‘dumb' but now I'm about to lose everything
A MUM who once branded anyone who worked ''dumb'' has revealed she's about to lose her Universal Credit payments. Ebony Wood, 26, used to be living off a hefty UC payment, which saw her allegedly receive an astronomical £4.3k every month. 3 3 3 At the time, the young woman insisted that those who spent long hours working to earn money were ''dumb''. Clapping back to taxpayers, Ebony filmed herself cleaning her filthy kitchen sink and said: 'I might be a single mum on Universal Credit, but at least I'm not dumb.'' Universal Credit is a payment to help with your living costs. According to the Gov website, it's paid monthly - or twice a month for some people in Scotland. Brits may be entitled to it if they're on a low income, out of work or you cannot work. 'You lot literally have to work 40 hours a week to get half of what I get - I literally get given £4,000 a month from the government.' However, the single mother - who previously begged strangers to fund her boob job - recently claimed that TikTok trolls have ''mass reported'' her to Jobcentre - an organisation that helps people find and maintain employment. ''They're taking away all my money and I don't know what I'm going to do,'' she cried in a video posted on her page. According to the young woman, her expenses are so high that even being employed wouldn't be enough to cover them. I racked up £15k debt - here's how I paid it off as a single mum ''Even if I went and got a job, I'm still not going to be able to pay my bills,'' said the TikToker who lives in a council house. Furious, she went on to slam those who allegedly were behind her shock UC cut. ''400 of you reported me and I hope you're happy because you've taken everything - literally everything away from me over some stupid videos.'' Am I entitled to Universal Credit? According to the GOV website, if you're on a low income or need help with your living costs, then you could be entitled to Universal Credit. To claim, you must live in the UK, be aged 18 or over (with some exceptions if you're 15 to 17), be under State Pension age, and have £16,000 or less in money, savings and investments. Other circumstances are if you are out of work, or unable to work, for example because of a health condition. Since allegedly losing her hefty UC check, the 26-year-old has claimed to have found a job at a takeaway. ''Thousands of people that laughed at me crying telling me to go and get a job and that, you're gonna love what I'm gonna say. ''Bossman has given me a delivery job at a kebab shop,'' said Ebony who was ''very excited'' after not being in employment in seven years. 'I'm glad you have been sanctioned' Ebony's emotional video has since taken the internet by storm, winning the single mum more than 870k views and over 4,200 likes. Close to a whopping 7,000 people flooded to comments, where many dubbed the 26-year-old ''lazy''. One said: ''You haven't lost your income, you've lost your benefits! There's a difference.'' Another critic thought: ''judging by your videos gloating about what you get from universal credit and admitting that you play the system i'm glad you have been sanctioned. ''People like you should be on the bare minimum.'' ''WELL DONE job centre! Finally she got what she deserved. You were bragging about making 4K a month form the universal credit, now karma is coming for you. Get a second job, sell your car, emigrate to another country,'' a viewer chimed in.
CNET
25-06-2025
- Business
- CNET
Social Security's Crisis Point Is Coming Up Fast. Here's the Latest
Social Security reserves are drying up faster than expected. Here's what you should know. Getty Image/ Zooey Liao/ CNET Millions of Americans rely on Social Security as supplementary income, and for many, it's their lifeline. According to the latest annual report from the Social Security Trustees, the program is in worse shape than expected just months ago, with trust fund reserves now projected to run out a year earlier -- in 2034. To be clear, monthly Social Security payments will still go out, but recipients could see nearly a 25% cut in benefits. That's troubling, especially for those who rely on it as their main income source. Turning things around would require swift action from lawmakers. The overarching issue for the Social Security program is that it's paying out more money than it's receiving from the current workforce, a situation known as an actuarial deficit. The annual report details some of the reasons that the trustees project the trust funds to run out sooner than expected, including lower birthrates and newly implemented initiatives like the Social Security Fairness Act. The annual report is an important health check on the current state of the Social Security program, but it also lays the groundwork for policymakers to make funding changes -- reducing the potential harm to those who rely on monthly payments, many of whom are already struggling financially. Below, we'll go over some of the details found in the report, including the reasoning for the updated projections and what it means for you if Social Security can't continue to pay full benefits to recipients -- or when the trust funds become "insolvent." For more, here's what you should know about paper Social Security checks going away. How is Social Security funded anyway? Social Security is funded through a dedicated payroll tax, meaning that employers and employees each pay 6.2% of wages up to the taxable maximum for the given year. For 2025, the maximum is $176,100. If you're self-employed, your tax rate is doubled to 12.4%. The dedicated tax dollars go to the Social Security trust funds -- comprising the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and the Federal Disability trust funds -- which are managed by the US Treasury and used to pay retirement, disability and survivor benefits. Any surplus is invested in special government securities. The main issue is with the OASI trust fund, which is expected to be depleted in 2033 -- at which point it will only be able to pay about 77% of scheduled benefits. The DI trust fund reserves aren't expected to be depleted within the 75-year period that ends in 2099. What's causing the Social Security fund to run out of money? Social Security is running out of funds for a number of reasons. However, a major factor is the growing number of Baby Boomers retiring compared to the size of the current workforce, which can't pay in enough to keep the Social Security fund solvent. In addition to the growing number of retirement applications, the Social Security Fairness Act, which went into effect in January of this year, has further strained the program. The act repeals two provisions that previously prevented certain types of public workers from receiving benefits. With those provisions out of the way, Social Security is responsible for ongoing payments and billions of dollars in back payments for qualifying individuals. Another factor is the growing actuarial deficit, which has widened since the 2024 annual report that had projected insolvency in 2035. The actuarial deficit is the difference between the Social Security's payment obligations versus the flow of money into the Social Security trust fund. Last year, the deficit was 3.50%, where it has since grown to 3.82%. These deficit projections are based on government estimates extending through the end of the century. The latest annual report also took into account lower birthrates for a longer period of time compared to last year's report and how much labor contributes to the GDP. What would it take to make Social Security solvent? Closing the gap and making the Social Security program solvent would require a cut to benefits, a permanent increase to the payroll tax or a combination of the two. The annual trustees report lays out potential paths to make Social Security solvent until 2099. One path would be to introduce an immediate, permanent payroll tax hike of 3.65% to be shared between employers and employees. Another path would be to immediately and permanently cut all scheduled and future Social Security benefits by 22.4%. What happens after the Social Security fund becomes insolvent? If nothing is put in place to fill the gap for Social Security funds, 2034 will be a tough year for many. It's important to remember that Social Security payments won't suddenly stop -- but they will be reduced. After the Social Security trust funds are depleted, existing payroll deductions will still be able to pay up to 81% of benefits. For more, be sure to check out the Social Security and SSDI cheat sheet.
Washington Post
25-05-2025
- Automotive
- Washington Post
Millions of Americans hit with bad credit after missed student loan payments
Millions of Americans are suddenly facing dramatically lower credit scores from delinquent student loans, making it tougher for them to secure housing, insurance, car loans, even employment at a vulnerable time for the U.S. economy. Credit scores dipped by more than 100 points for 2.2 million delinquent student loan borrowers, and 150 points or more for more than 1 million in the first three months of 2025, according to an analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. It's the kind of credit score drop that follows a personal bankruptcy filing. Roughly 2.4 million of those Americans previously had favorable credit scores and would have qualified for cars loans, mortgages or credit cards before these delinquencies were reported, researchers said. The slide in credit scores could lead to pricier loans for millions as borrowing costs are near 20-year highs. The Federal Reserve has signaled that it doesn't plan to cut interest rates right away. Already there are signs that lower credit scores are making it harder for more Americans to get loans, with rejection rates for auto loans, credit cards and mortgage refinancing all ticking up in February, compared to a year earlier. Tina Johnson was two days away from finalizing the purchase of a used Nissan Pathfinder when she got notice that her preapproved loan was no longer valid. Her credit score had fallen from 650 to 418 after she missed $440 worth of student loan payments that she didn't realize were required again. Although the Department of Education said lenders would send borrowers a bill at least three weeks before it was due, Johnson said she was never notified that payments needed to resume. 'Nothing, no email, no phone call, no letter — I could've avoided all this if I had known,' said Johnson, 44, who lives in Fleming County, Kentucky. Johnson's expected car payment of $350 a month nearly doubled overnight, making it unaffordable for the DoorDash delivery driver. She's stuck with her 12-year-old Nissan Altima for now. Johnson says she's also putting off other plans, including borrowing against her home to repair her roof and going back to school for a bachelor's degree, because of the sudden hit to her credit score. 'I took care of the accounts, but there's nothing else I can do,' she said. 'It'll take me years to get those 200 points back.' Federal student loan payments were paused early in the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, offering millions of Americans relief at a time of economic upheaval and high unemployment. Although payments started back up in late 2023, the Biden administration offered a year-long grace period. That ended on Sept. 30, but millions of borrowers have yet to make a payment on their student loans. This month the federal government restarted collection efforts for defaulted student loans and said it plans to resume seizing wages, tax returns and Social Security payments this summer, making the stakes even higher. Nearly 1 in 4 borrowers required to make loan repayments were more than 90 days behind at the end of March, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York analysis. And although younger Americans tend to hold the most student debt, borrowers ages 40 and older are most likely to be behind on their loans, suggesting that years of inflation are making it harder for middle-aged Americans to keep up with payments. 'This is the beginning of something big, and we need to be paying attention,' said Dominik Mjartan, chief executive of American Pride Bank in Macon, Georgia. 'There's a very high cost to having a low credit score in America. Your cost of living goes up — your cellphone bill, your utilities, your insurance payments, everything. And that trickles down through the economy.' Credit scores, which generally range from 300 to 850, offer a snapshot of a person's financial history that takes into account debt levels, bill-paying record and length of credit background. They're used by lenders of all types, as well as landlords, employers, insurance firms, cellphone providers and utility companies to gauge how likely someone is to make loan payments on time. A good credit score, generally 670 or higher, can translate to lower interest rates and higher credit limits, while a subprime score, under 620, can disqualify borrowers from most conventional loans. 'It's been a major hit to credit scores, and for a lot of people, has been enough to put them in subprime territory, making it very difficult to get loans at decent interest rates,' said Stefania Albanesi, an economics professor at the University of Miami and a former researcher at the New York Fed. 'And while credit scores can drop quickly, they recover very slowly. Even if you've gotten back on track with your payments, it can take years to get back to where you were before.' Recent student loan delinquencies have helped drag down the average credit score for all Americans, to 715 in February — the lowest level since early in the pandemic, according to FICO, a data firm used by lenders. Journey Butler graduated with a degree in political science from Florida A&M University a couple of years ago and had planned to start law school next year. But that is up in the air after she found out last week that her credit score had dropped 168 points, to 521. Butler thought her student loans were still on hold, since she had obtained an extension due to a local natural disaster last year. She'd missed a couple of voicemails and emails from her loan provider, and she didn't realize anything was wrong until she got an alert about her dinged credit. The 21-year-old quickly paid off her $500 balance but was told it could take years for her credit to recover. Now Butler says it will be next to impossible to secure a new apartment, much less more student loans. 'I got that message and everything kind of went crashing down,' said Butler, who works for a health insurance company in Tallahassee. 'You need a background check to get a job, to buy a house, to get car insurance. It literally affects every area of my life.' There are signs that Americans are already having trouble accessing credit. Nearly 42 percent of mortgage refinance applications were turned down in February, up from 27 percent a year earlier, according to a New York Fed survey. Rejection rates for car loans jumped from 2 percent to 14 percent in the same period, while credit card denials grew five percentage points to 22 percent. Meanwhile, the share of discouraged borrowers — who needed credit but did not apply for it because they didn't think they would be approved — rose to a record high of 8.5 percent, according to the survey, which dates back to 2013. 'Of course there are ripple effects: People's financial margin for error was already pretty tiny, and when you add in student loan payments for the first time in several years, that makes a big difference,' said Matt Schulz, chief consumer finance analyst at LendingTree, an online loan marketplace. 'There's no way rising student loan delinquencies won't have some sort of effect on people's ability to repay other types of debt as well.' Destiny, a 30-year-old in Georgia, is set to start a tech job in the Midwest next month. But first she has to find a place to live, which she says has become unfeasible since her credit score plunged seemingly overnight from the high 700s to the low 400s. Destiny, who spoke on the condition that she be identified by only her first name because she fears losing her job offer, was between jobs and trying to get $44,000 in student loans deferred when payments started back up late last year. 'Every property manager looks at me and says, 'Your credit score is too low,'' she said. 'I had worked so hard to get my credit score up, but then this hit and I can't get the bare minimum of a roof over my head.' Economists expect another decrease in credit scores in the coming months, as more student loans get flagged as overdue. Although 2.7 million borrowers were reported newly delinquent in February, twice as many — 5.4 million — had not been marked delinquent even though they haven't made any student loan payments since October, according to FICO. The rise in student loan delinquencies and subsequent drop in credit scores, economists say, is an early sign that Americans are under increasing financial strain. In interviews, borrowers said their household budgets had changed since 2020, when many of them last made regular payments toward their student loans. Higher costs for groceries, utilities, gas and other necessities have stretched them thin, making it tougher to shoulder new loan payments. The restart of student loan payments and the impact of delinquent borrowers' lower credit scores is expected to reduce overall economic growth this year by about 0.13 percent, according to estimates from Moody's Analytics. That drag comes at a tenuous time for the economy, which shrank in early 2025 mostly because of a rush of imports that counted against GDP. 'The fact that student debt can be garnished from your wages — that becomes a very different risk,' said Mjartan of American Pride Bank. 'It's a downward spiral: If you can't keep up with your student loans and your wages get garnished, then you can't pay your other debts, either, and you can't spend.' Kayla Moore found out in March that her credit score — a 'good' 730 — had fallen by more than 100 points to become subprime after three missed student loan payments of $30 apiece. Moore, who had already paid off $5,500 in loans, said her father had offered to cover the last $1,000. She didn't realize those payments had slipped through the cracks until she got emails from Credit Karma and Experian. She immediately paid the balance in full but says her credit score has barely budged, to the mid-600s. 'I basically lost my mind when I saw what had happened,' said Moore, 24, who works at a bank in Chicago. 'I really wanted to move to a nicer apartment this year, and now I'm worried they're going to see my credit score and immediately deny me.' Danielle Douglas-Gabriel contributed to this report.
