As 2015 draws to a close, the new year symbolically ushers in a clean slate and the opportunity for a fresh start. Unfortunately, while the economy appears to be on its strongest footing in years, many Americans will not be getting a fresh financial start on January 1.

In fact, a new poll conducted by CreditCards.com shows more than one out of five Americans with debt are now resigned to the belief they will never be able to pay off that debt. The 21% of those surveyed that indicated that their debt seemed insurmountable is more than double the 9% that felt that way when the same survey was conducted in 2013.

The American Debt Dichotomy

The number of CreditCards.com respondents who  seem to have given up hope on repaying their debts is certainly troubling, but the same survey indicated another faction of the U.S. population is headed in a more positive direction.
As the economy has strengthened, a growing number of Americans have been able to completely eliminate their debt. This year, 22% of those surveyed reported  they are now living completely debt-free, up from only 14% just one year ago.

The financial hardships that followed the housing crisis seems to have taught some Americans the importance of financial responsibility. The American Bankers Association reports  nearly 30% of American credit card users now pay off their full card balances at the end of every month, a post-recession high. In addition, the Federal Reserve says  overall household debt remains 5% below its 2008 peak.

Holiday Pressure

The holiday period is…

Click here to continue reading

Want to learn more about how to profit off the stock market? Or maybe you just want to be able to look sophisticated in front of your coworkers when they ask you what you are reading on your Kindle, and you’d prefer to tell them “Oh, I’m just reading a book about stock market analysis,” rather than the usual “Oh, I’m just looking at pics of my ex-girlfriend on Facebook.” For these reasons and more, check out my book, Beating Wall Street with Common Sense. I don’t have a degree in finance; I have a degree in neuroscience. You don’t have to predict what stocks will do if you can predict what traders will do and be one step ahead of them. I made a 400% return in the stock market over five years using only basic principles of psychology and common sense. Beating Wall Street with Common Sense is now available on Amazon, and tradingcommonsense.com is always available on your local internet!