Page 25 - AT
P. 25
BUSINESS Wednesday 13 March 2019
A25
Millennial Money: Paying debt back home vexes expats
By KELSEY SHEEHY America, which at the time
Associated Press was an hours-long affair.
A close friend recently told LOCATION, LOCATION, LO-
me: "If I'd waited two years, CATION
my education would have The ability to easily (and af-
cost half as much." fordably) transfer money
Not because she would to U.S. bank accounts can
have chosen a differ- vary from country to coun-
ent graduate program or try. "In Philippines, every-
qualified for more schol- thing was paper," McCoy
arships. But because the says. You had to "take a
value of the local currency number, have a seat, wait
dropped. for the maybe one person
She's an American expat in the whole bank who
who works in Cape Town, deals with these sorts of
South Africa, and is paid in transactions." Now, in Sin-
rand. The exchange rate gapore, "I don't even have
was 7 rand to 1 U.S. dol- to leave my house."
lar when she took out fed- The value and stability of
eral student loans to pay the currency can also vary.
for a master's program, Currencies in countries like
but it later fell to 14 rand Singapore, Canada and
to the dollar. So, now that In this Aug. 6, 2018, file photo people walk by a mural displaying world currency symbols on dis- Australia have remained
she's repaying those loans, play outside a bank in Beijing. relatively stable over the
her money is worth half as Associated Press past 10 years.
much. That makes it easier for ex-
An estimated 9 million just one obstacle you'll debt. she earned half her salary pats earning in the local
Americans live abroad, have to navigate. Wire DOLLAR, DOLLAR BILLS, in Philippine pesos, depos- currency. Their money is al-
not counting military ser- transfers, time differences Y'ALL ited into her local bank ac- ways more or less worth the
vice members, according and limited access to fi- Maya McCoy has lived count. The other half was in same, so there's less need
to the State Department. nancial services in the U.S. abroad for nine years, first U.S. dollars, deposited into to obsess over exchange
If you dream of being one can also make it a pain in the Philippines and now a bank account she kept in rates. That's not the case
of them, debt obligations to pay debt as an expat. in Singapore. In that time, the States, which she used in places like South Africa,
back home don't have And where you move, how the Los Angeles native has to pay U.S. creditors. Norway or Brazil, where
to stop you, but they can you're paid and to whom paid off roughly $70,000 in This payment arrangement the value of local currency
make things more compli- you owe money can have student loans and handled meant McCoy could large- against the U.S. dollar has
cated. a big impact on how con- two U.S. mortgages. ly avoid the arduous task dropped considerably over
Currency fluctuations are venient it is to deal with Her first job split her pay, so of sending money back to the past decade.q
US consumer prices rose 0.2 percent in February
By JOSH BOAK off on further increases to a for 2019. increased 3 percent over prices slipped 0.2 percent.
Associated Press key short-term interest rate, Still, even with modest in- the past 12 months. Food Excluding the volatile en-
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. enabling the U.S. central flation, many Americans prices jumped 0.4 percent ergy and food categories,
consumer prices rose bank to provide support for are already facing higher in February. core prices increased 0.1
0.2 percent in February, economic growth. prices for basic necessities. Gasoline prices surged 1.5 percent in February and 2.1
pushed up slightly by higher Some economists expect Housing costs continue to percent in February, but percent from a year ago.q
gasoline and housing costs inflation to pick up as the
even as the prices for autos benefits of higher wages
and clothing slumped. flow through the economy.
The Labor Department said "Although inflation has
Tuesday that the consumer slowed in recent months,
price index rose a modest it should move gradually
1.5 percent last month from higher in the spring and
a year ago. summer," said Gus Faucher,
Inflation has been mut- chief economist at PNC Fi-
ed despite the solid job nancial Services. "Higher
market, causing average energy prices will push up
hourly earnings — after be- overall inflation, and rising
ing adjusted for consumer wages will lead businesses
prices — to climb 1.9 per- to raise prices in an effort to
cent in the past year. This maintain profit margins."
marks the strongest infla- Ian Shepherdson, chief This Nov. 16, 2018, file photo shows gas prices at a pump in West
tion-adjusted wage growth economist at Pantheon Mifflin, Pa. On Tuesday, March 12, 2019.
since November 2015, an Macroeconomics, said Associated Press
increase that would likely the consumer price index
help consumer spending could breach 2.5 percent
and economic growth. by the end of the year, outpace overall inflation, they're 9.1 percent lower
The low level of inflation also which could create a rising 3.4 percent from a from last year. Clothing
gives the Federal Reserve problem for the Fed if holds year ago. School tuition prices plunged 1 percent in
more flexibility in holding rates at their current level and child care costs have February, while new-auto