The problem of debt among low income families in the United Kingdom has received widespread attention in the media in recent months. In May 2003, Citizens Advice, which represents the 2000 or so Citizen’s Advice Bureaux around the country, warned that the number of people struggling with debt problems had risen by 47% over the past five years. The campaign group ‘Debt on our Doorstep’ argues that there are serious problems of default and of arrears recovery among low income families arising from excessive interest rates on loans, incomplete understanding of loan conditions, and ‘socially irresponsible lending’ by some high street lenders.
The evidence on the pattern of debt and, in particular, of debt-induced ‘financial stress’ for low income families underpinning these statements comes from a mixture of sources aggregate data from some classes of lenders, case loads and case studies from specialised agencies, and more detailed analysis of urban localities. To understand fully the prevalence of problems with debt among low income families, however, we need a suitably representative sample of ‘at risk’ households. Such data could be used to determine the general incidence of credit arrangements utilised by households, and to pin down the financial problems that may arise from outstanding debt. So far, most academic studies of the issue have also focussed on case studies of relatively small numbers of people (e.g. Dominy and Kempson, 2003) and/or largely qualitative data sets (Economic and Social Research Council, 2002; Kempson, 2002).
Liquidity is an important concept in finance and macroeconomics. The microeconomic literature in finance views liquidity roughly as the ability to sell assets quickly and costlessly. In macroeconomics, liquidity refers to a generally accepted medium of exchange or, in brief, money. Money is the most liquid asset due to the fact that it does not need to be converted into anything else in order to make purchases of real goods or other assets. This feature makes money valuable in both perspectives.
Welcome to the Home Loan U course in How to Become a Smart Home Buyer, from Quicken Loans. Here, you’ll learn the important advantages of becoming a pre-approved buyer, as well as information about mortgages and the home buying process. If you’re looking for the tools you need to find the right kind of mortgage and achieve your financial goals, you’re in the right place.
Let’s start with some terms you might hear more often now that you’re in the market. You can also bet they’ll come up in your first conversation with your Mortgage Insider. Simply put, a mortgage is a loan taken out to finance the purchase of a home. The paperwork that documents the mortgage is also a legal contract which states that you, the client, promise to pay back the loan on a monthly basis. Your monthly payment typically goes toward paying back the principal (or the amount of the loan) and interest. Your monthly payment may also include taxes and insurance.
