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🚘️ Car Payments Breaking the Bank for Some |
Some Americans are struggling to keep up with their auto loan payments. |
Car repossessions were up more than 20% year over year as of July. |
Now, 6.1% of subprime auto loan borrowers are 60+ days behind on their payments. That’s the highest rate in a dataset that goes back to 1994. |
Of course, the price of new and used vehicles skyrocketed after COVID-19 reached the United States. At the same time, Americans were temporarily saving more of our income than we have since the 1970s. |
We felt empowered to spend money on vehicles at inflated prices as we enjoyed stimulus checks, a pause on student loan debt payments and historically low interest rates. |
Now, subprime borrowers face auto loan rates of 14 to 21%. The personal savings rate has fallen from 5.3% in May to 3.4% in September — near all-time historical lows. |
The good news is that just 0.27% of prime borrowers are delinquent. |
One of the best ways to avoid that situation? Limit your loan to a maximum of 42 months. |
“If you can’t afford the payment on a 42-month loan, then you should buy a cheaper car,” Clark says. |
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💵 Today’s Top Stories |
| | Auto insurance exists so you can file a claim for anything, right? Not so fast. Clark says you should never file any claim for less than $1,500, and you should almost always try to avoid claims. Read more. |
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| | Here’s how much you need to spend at Costco annually in order to make the top-rung membership worth it. Read more. |
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| | You can get an entire year of cell phone coverage on T-Mobile’s network for just $180. Here are the stipulations. Read more. |
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| | “Identity theft” doesn’t have to be a mysterious nightmare. In today’s world, protecting against it (or repairing your finances if it happens) is part of life. Here’s what you should know. Read more. |
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| | Did you know that Certificates of Deposit come in two flavors, callable and non-callable? Here’s why Clark “hates” callable CDs, and what they allow banks to do. Read more. |
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📊 Stat of the Day |
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💰️ Deal Alert: Today’s Top Deals |
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🎙️ Podcast |
 | Full Show: Clark Stinks! and Surprising Case Against Credit Unions |
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Christa reads the latest "Clark Stinks!" submissions and Clark responds. Also, Clark loves credit unions. But there’s a new discovery that is incredibly distressing about Clark’s beloved child. |
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☎️ Need Money Help? |
The Team Clark Consumer Action Center is a free helpline that can help you navigate your money questions. Call 636-492-5275. Visit clark.com/cac for more information. |
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