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Amid a declining housing market and volatile economy, mortgage and banking marketers may find themselves in a difficult position.  While the future may seem bleak and uncertain, marketers have a unique opportunity to make a lasting impact on existing and new customers if they take advantage of this slowed pace to optimize the customer experience of their marketing efforts in their respective markets.  Crashing into opportunity As 2022 comes to an end, predictions for mortgage and banking trends have been nothing short of ominous. According to Freddie Mac, 30-year fixed mortgage interest rates are expected to drop from an average of 6.8% in late 2022 to 6.25 in Q4 2023. While this shift heads in the direction lenders would like to see, these rates remain striking considering that 2021 mortgage rates were approximately 3%. According to IntraFi’s quarterly survey, bank executives revealed that federal funding rates won’t peak until the first half of 2023 in response to ...

The news is abuzz with rumors of the next recession coming in 2023 or 2024. But for most Americans, all of that triggers a sudden panic and a desperate need to look at one's bank account. What is a recession, what does it mean, and how can you prepare yourself and your family's finances for one? This article will answer each of these questions and more. By the end, you'll know what to expect and how to prepare for a recession. What is a recession? According to economists working for the National Bureau of Economic Research, a recession is a prolonged period of economic downturn or declining economic activity. It affects a nation's or the world's entire economy and lasts for a few months or more. In some ways, the best way to understand the recession is to compare it to "regular" or positive economic activity and GDP. GDP (gross domestic product) is essentially the combined value of the goods and services made by an economy, like the American ...

Some 93% of small business owners are worried that the United States will enter a recession in the next six months, a survey released by Goldman Sachs showed on Wednesday, with a majority of firms saying the country was headed in the wrong direction. In the same survey a year ago, with increased vaccinations promising an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses were more optimistic and 67% said the United States was headed in the right direction. That has reversed in the latest version, 61% of responding firms said the United States was on the wrong track. Some 78% of small business owners said the economy has got worse in the past three months, with only 5% saying it had improved. Over the same period, 84% said hiring challenges had worsened and 80% said inflationary pressures had increased. This quarterly survey is the first time the recession question has appeared. It found that 6% of respondents were not worried at all about a recession, while 1% said they did not know. ...

Even though the economic situation has become more stable now, many Americans keep on being in precarious financial shape. The pandemic has made thousands of people lose their jobs, become temporarily unemployed, and rely on simple fast loans when they are pressed for cash. Even today, many of them struggle financially and can’t pay their bills. Seven in ten people struggle with at least one aspect of financial stability, a new survey by the Financial Health Network finds. If your family struggles financially, here is what you can do to improve this situation. Why People Struggle Financially The Financial Health Network, a nonprofit financial services consultancy, conducted a survey of 5,400 Americans. This survey asked questions about the financial health of the respondents including the way they manage bills, income, savings, and debt. “The American economy has experienced a certain growth this year. However, many consumers still are still concerned with money issues,” m...

A woman has shared her top money-saving tips after paying off her £20,000 debt – without giving up frivolous treats. Shaurna Cameron, 29, first experienced issues with her finances when she graduated from university in May 2013. The money troubles began after she secured her first full-time job with a salary of £17,000. At the time, Shaurna felt “rich", which spurred her on into spending money on clothes, bags and "useless items", as well as expensive trips. If she couldn't afford it on her monthly earnings, she would put herself into debt by using a credit card. It wasn't long before Shaurna was buried in debt. “When I couldn't afford to pay for my flights outright, I wouldn't hesitate to put this money onto a credit card,” said Shaurna, a compliance specialist. “This meant that by June 2016 [three years later], I had accrued around £20,000 of credit card and loan debt. “Initially I didn't really take it seriously – I was 24, living at h...

A business that extends credit to its customers may find that some of its invoices are paid late, or in some cases not at all. Collecting bad debt is a critical part of maintaining your cash flow and keeping a healthy balance sheet. At some point, however, a debt becomes so far delayed that it has to be written off. Documenting Bad Debt As the name suggests, a bad debt is one that a business can’t collect. This often results from credit sales to customers for goods that have been received but not yet paid for, and have been recorded in your company’s accounts receivables. The Internal Revenue Service expects businesses to show some effort to collect such debts before writing off the amounts. For example, if the debt is the result in a loan to a supplier, it helps to have the debt recorded in a document with the expected returns indicated, and to retain copies of letters or e-mails demanding the funds be repaid. Deducting Debt The IRS allows bad debt to be written off and de...

Equity Financing vs. Debt Financing: An Overview To raise capital for business needs, companies primarily have two types of financing as an option: equity financing and debt financing. Most companies use a combination of debt and equity financing, but there are some distinct advantages to both. Principal among them is that equity financing carries no repayment obligation and provides extra working capital that can be used to grow a business. Debt financing on the other hand does not require giving up a portion of ownership. Companies usually have a choice as to whether to seek debt or equity financing. The choice often depends upon which source of funding is most easily accessible for the company, its cash flow, and how important maintaining control of the company is to its principal owners. The debt-to-equity-ratio shows how much of a company's financing is proportionately provided by debt and equity. Key Takeaways + There are two types of financing available to a comp...

Some people say you need to spend money to make money, and while spending money on big marketing campaigns can certainly help businesses, it isn't the only way. There are plenty of alternative ways to grow your business without breaking the bank. With some smart planning and creative strategizing, you can increase your sales and grow your customer base without spending much—if anything—at all. Below, 12 members of Forbes Business Council share some of the best free and low-budget strategies they know to increase business cash flow. Members of Forbes Business Council share strategies for increasing business cash flow. 1. Automate Payment Collections Automating your payment collections. If you typically use an invoicing system to bill clients and have to wait for payment, you may consider setting up automatic payments, such as recurring ACH or credit card transfers. Additionally, if you typically bill in arrears after work has been performed, changing to requiring either ...

How many entrepreneurs are as confident now as they were before the Covid-19 pandemic began? Yes, we know the majority of the S&P 500 are companies that began in down markets. And yes, the best entrepreneurs intuitively use hard times to lean in and listen even harder to their market and customers, innovating where necessary and making their companies more resilient than ever before. But for many of us, the current climate feels different. The exits many or even most were aiming for are now delayed or entirely different. Consumers are different in ways we could not have predicted. Employees are different and even the fundamental forms of employment have changed. Given this, is it still possible to become financially secure enough to retire? From my perspective, it absolutely is, but quite possibly through different methods than the ones you’d expected. I believe we can build a map for what we need to do now in four words: Think like Warren Buffett. That’s it. But when I s...

Student debt can make buying a home feel impossible. Here are your options Half of people who haven't yet purchased a home point to their student debt as a reason for the delay. That's the finding from a new report by the National Association of Realtors, which partnered with Morning Consult to conduct an online poll in June of 1,995 student loan borrowers. Millennials were the most likely (60%) to say their student debt was making them put off homeownership, although more than a third of baby boomers said the same. "Housing affordability is worsening, leaving future home buyers with student debt at a severe disadvantage," said Charlie Oppler, president of the NAR. Outstanding student loan debt in the U.S. has surpassed $1.7 trillion and burdens Americans more than credit card and auto debt. Around a third of borrowers are in delinquency or default. More from Personal Finance: Here's how to prioritize your financial goals. Here are some tips for bea...