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One of the keys to having a peaceful and happy life is your financial well being. Understanding the history of credit and how you got into this unhealthy financial position is key if you plan to use a debt settlement program. However, in today’s world that is not easy.
If you take a step back in time to the 1940′s or 1950′s and talk to your grandparents , they will tell you that cash was the most important item for a family. When they wanted to purchase a home for example they would save until they had almost half of the purchase price for the home. Yes, the cost of a home in the 1940′s and 1950′s was much less than today’s world. However, it shows that people would save their money. In fact , it was not until December 1947, that the banking system issued its first prime rate figure. Prime rate is the interest rate charged by banks to their most creditworthy customers. The first prime rate was established at 1.75%. Prime rate is the base rate that bank use and then normally add to that number when lending money to customers. On December 19,1980, the highest prime rate was 21.50% while today’s prime rate is 3.25%.
In addition most people would save cash for their purchases. The credit card was not in our vocabulary.. In 1950, the first nationwide credit card company was started by The Diner’s Club. The concept was that this was credit and the balance would be paid in full at the end of each month. In 1966, the general purpose credit card was issued by Bank of America. This became the for runner of the nationwide general purpose credit card industry. This card was used in place of cash and if we were short each month of paying off the balance that was alright with the credit card companies. So that how the cycle of personal unsecured borrowing started and got us into this financial situation.
Did you know the following facts:
• Average credit card debt is more than $8,000
• Average American Family has 8 credit cards.
• Of the 144 million general purpose credit cards only 55 million pay off their bill each month.
• 35 million pay only the minimum payment each month
You can get out of debt by starting to save with a debt settlement company. Now is the time to cut up the credit credits and balance our personal financial situation.
