All posts by Editor
This guest post is from Donna Freedman (@DLFreedman). Donna is a former newspaper journalist and staff writer for MSN Money and Get Rich Slowly. Currently she writes for Money Talks News and for her own website, donnafreedman.com.
What do Baby Boomers and millennials have in common? Stereotyping, retirement issues and, sometimes, a residence. About that last: According to a Pew Research Center study called “The Boomerang Generation,” 29% of adults aged 20 to 34 live with their folks. Which leads us to a two-pronged stereotype: Boomers were overly indulgent parents who never let their kids suffer even a moment of The Sadz, which is why millennials are such an entitled, failure-to-launch cadre.The National Foundation for Credit Counseling® (NFCC) and Experian® jointly announced today that Experian committed 80,000 free, 12-month memberships to its freecreditscore.comTM product, in support of the NFCC’s Sharpen Your Financial Focus™ program. The NFCC program, launched in September of this year, includes a broad cross-section of supporters – Experian and others – who are committed to increasing the financial well-being of Americans.
Owning your own business is what many perceive to be as the American dream. And if you’ve been fortunate enough to make that dream a reality, then you’ve certainly heard how indispensable your business is to the country’s economy. But as invaluable as your small business is, many small business owners face daily challenges when it comes to sustainability, profitability and growth. For the last year, Experian and the Small Business Administration (SBA) have lent a helping hand to small businesses that are facing those types of challenges. As a part of their efforts, all Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) firms and small businesses that are considered to be socially and economically disadvantaged under the SBA’s 8(a) business development program have full access to BusinessIQ Express.
Millions of Americans face economic hardships today due to the financial crisis. The Great Recession made a big impact on the financial lives of consumers. Unemployment was high and many struggled to make ends meet, forcing them to tap into their savings and live off credit to survive. Now that our economy is recovering, we believe that education is the key for consumers to unlock the door that leads to financial success and opportunity.
Grab a pen and paper. Jot down some differences between the Northeast and Midwest. What came to mind? Maybe it was the bright city lights of the Northeast versus the Midwest’s starlit farms? Or maybe it’s the city’s busy streets compared to quiet open fields? What you may or may not have written down is that Northeasterners prefer to drive more import vehicles than the folks in the Midwest.
According to Experian Automotive’s mid-year review of automotive market trends, in the first half of 2013, the top five new vehicle models in the Northeast region were all import brands. Conversely, as one might have guessed, American-made vehicles dominated the Midwestern roads. In the Northeast, the list was made up of the Honda Accord, Honda CR-V, Toyota Camry, Honda Civic and Nissan Altima. Out in the Midwest, Ford vehicles made up four of the top five and the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 filled out the list. The top five in order included the F-150, Fusion, Escape, Silverado 1500 and the Focus.
In the personal finance world, credit is one of the hottest topics to talk about and there are many resources available to consumers.
To further empower consumers to take a more active role in managing their credit, Experian provides a number of solid consumer education programs.
As a positive extension to those, in 2011 we developed Experian Credit Educator, a consumer-education service that offers personalized, live, one-on-one, telephone-based credit education sessions to consumers and customers of Experian’s clients.
Experian recently announced that we’ve added new features to this service in order to give consumers insights into specific actions which may produce an improvement to their credit score.
Underscoring Experian’s goal to help consumers and be an advocate for credit education, the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) last week awarded Victor Nichols, CEO of Experian North America its “Making the Difference” award from at their Annual Leaders Conference in Denver.
This prestigious award is presented to organizations that have made significant contributions to assisting consumers with financial literacy, awareness and education, furthering the NFCC’s mission, visions and programs through a national presence.
Mr. Nichols attended the conference to accept the award and to speak to the attendees about Experian’s vision and commitment to financial literacy and consumer empowerment.
Today Experian announced five high-level appointments to its North American Credit Services group. Filling these crucial leadership roles are five seasoned women who have a proven track record of success with Experian. These women include:
Most people will tell you that they’re extremely proud when their hometown or current city accomplishes something. Hometown pride is why people are diehard fans for the local professional or college sports teams. Knowing that their city shines bright in any light, gives people a good feeling inside. With that said, people in the New York Metro area should have a strong sense of pride in how their businesses are performing. According to Experian’s Q2 Metro Business Pulse analysis, which looks at the top metropolitan areas in four key business credit categories, businesses in the New York area had the lowest average bankruptcy rates in the quarter, at just 0.28 percent. Those in the Nassau, NY; Baton Rouge, La; Honolulu; and Miami areas also have reason to be excited, as their businesses rounded out the top five with the lowest rates in this category.