Page 25 - ARUBA TODAY

BUSINESS Wednesday 27 March 2019
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Millennial Money: There's more than 1 way to slay a debt

By SEAN PYLES if the standard plan isn't af-
Nerd Wallet fordable. With the income-
Associated Press driven plan, for example,
The saying that debt is your payment will generally
easy to get into and hard be around 10% of your dis-
to get out of hits home for cretionary income.
younger Americans: At the PRIVATE LOANS: Call your
end of 2018, 18- to 29-year- lender about repayment
olds carried over $1 trillion options. You may also be
in debt, according to the able to refinance student
Federal Reserve. That's the loans at a lower interest
highest level since 2007. rate, though you'll need
"Understanding your op- good credit to qualify.
tions and making a plan is TIP: Before you miss a pay-
imperative," says Billy Hens- ment you can't afford, look
ley, CEO of the National into ways to manage your
Endowment for Financial student loans.
Education. "Anyone doing QUESTION MEDICAL BILLS
that is going in the right di- Medical bills can be costly,
rection." complicated and confus-
Knowing a few key points ing if there isn't a clear path
can help anyone — new to In this Sunday, March 24, 2019 photo a passer-by walks on a pedestrian walkway, in Boston's to resolve them. But you
debt or not — resolve their Seaport district. have a few options to man-
debt faster and potentially Associated Press age them.
save hundreds or thou- First, make sure any in-
sands of dollars. save money. Two caveats: If you're having trouble pay- He cautions, though, that surance coverage has
CUT YOUR INTEREST RATE Pay it off within the pro- ing your minimums, a debt transferring debt can tempt been properly applied.
A high-interest credit card motional period; and you'll management plan from a you to take on more debt. You should receive what's
or loan is costly. But you need good or excellent nonprofit credit counseling "The question is, will you be called an "explanation of
may be able to pay less credit to qualify. agency can cut your inter- strong enough to not use benefits" letter from your
interest, and pay off debt CONSOLIDATION LOAN. est rates and put you on a that original credit card insurer stating how much
faster, with these tools: You can consolidate mul- repayment plan. again to make ends meet it covered. Compare that
BALANCE TRANSFER CARDS. tiple debts into a single TIP: Weigh the pros and or to fill a desire?" with your bill to check that
Roll the balance of your payment with a personal cons. "Debt consolidation MAKE STUDENT LOANS charges are accurate.
existing cards onto a new loan. You might try this if or balance transfer makes MORE AFFORDABLE Next, figure out how you're
one offering a promotional your card balances are too sense when monthly pay- If you're struggling to han- going to pay what you
0 percent interest rate. With much for a balance trans- back, interest and pay- dle monthly payments, owe. For bills you can't cov-
your entire payment going fer card. This also requires ment terms are less than consider these options: er in one payment, ask the
to the debt, not interest, good to excellent credit. your current payments," FEDERAL LOANS: You have service provider to estab-
you'll pay it off faster and DEBT MANAGEMENT PLAN. Hensley says. several repayment options lish a payment plan.q

Technology companies, banks power US stocks solidly higher

By ALEX VEIGA November. quarter for the market. percent. The Russell 2000 climbed 1.9 percent a day
Associated Press The rally marked a reversal KEEPING SCORE: The Dow index of smaller company after the consumer elec-
Stocks rose broadly in early for the market, which start- Jones Industrial Average stocks picked up 0.9 per- tronics giant announced a
trading Tuesday on Wall ed the week on a down- rose 218 points, or 0.9 per- cent. suite of new services to run
Street, erasing the market's beat note after racking up cent, to 25,735 as of 10:12 Major European indexes on its devices.q
modest losses from a day losses last week as investors'
earlier. jitters over a global eco-
Technology companies nomic slowdown intensi-
powered the rally, with fied. That led to a troubling
chipmakers among the drop in long-term bond
biggest gainers. Nvidia rose yields, which many see as
3.7 percent and Advanced a warning sign of a possible
Micro Devices added 2.3 recession.
percent. The yield on the bench-
Banks also notched solid mark 10-year Treasury note
gains as bond prices head- rose to 2.43 percent in early
ed lower, sending yields trading Tuesday, up from
slightly higher. That helps 2.41 percent late Monday.
banks charge higher inter- It's still slightly below the
est rates on loans. Morgan yield on the three-month
Stanley rose 1.8 percent. Treasury bill. In this March 18, 2019, file photo trader Gordon Charlop, right,
Health care and communi- Despite the market's recent works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
cations stocks also notched gyrations, the benchmark Associated Press
solid gains. Energy compa- S&P 500 index is still
nies climbed as the price of up more than 12 percent a.m. Eastern Time. The were also headed higher,
U.S. crude oil moved above so far in 2019, an unusually S&P 500 index gained rebounding from a day
$60 a barrel. Oil hasn't set- strong start to a year, and 0.9 percent and the Nas- earlier.
tled above that price since on course for a solid first daq composite jumped 1.1 BIG APPLE: Shares in Apple