Preferred Financial Services

Andover, Massachusetts June 9th 2010— In these tough economic times every family has been looking for ways to save money each month and improve their financial situation. Some obvious spending items that can be cut have been discussed in the past including eating out, cable television, daily coffee purchases, etc. All of these are relatively easy to cut or eliminate without impacting your life too much. Today we will be discussing ways to save money on your cell phone bill each month, which can add up to hundreds of dollars over a 12 month period, money that you can use for other more important items in today’s depressed economy.

The average individual in the US spends over $600 a year on a cell phone plan while an average family of four spends over $1800. Clearly this is not a minor item in a budget for most consumers, and luckily for them there are many areas where you can save money while still keeping your service provider if you are currently satisfied. The easiest and most straightforward way to save money is to downgrade your monthly service plan. Unlimited texting, internet, and calls is much more expensive than a preset amount of each, and if you can monitor and control your usage, this is an easy way to save money each month. Families can opt to enroll in a family plan which can also show significant savings without having to terminate the existing contract or change phone numbers. Many employers offer employee discounts on a select national carrier and it would definitely be in your best interest to take advantage of this saving opportunity. A huge moneymaker for service providers has always been the extra insurance that they sell consumers on their phones in case of accidents or theft. Avoid this at all costs, as the monthly fee plus the deductible makes it generally more expensive than just buying a new phone.

The most drastic change you can make that could also save you the most money is changing service providers. Before doing this however, make sure you can do it without paying a termination fee; this is usually tied to how long you have owned your current phone and generally is 2 years from the purchase date. Not only are there four different national carriers with over 220 different plans but there are also regional carriers that are much cheaper. Generally you can expect savings of around $20 for the exact same plan with a regional carrier, but you will be subject to roaming charges if you use the phone outside the carrier’s coverage area. If you do not use a lot of minutes each month and generally tend to underutilize your existing plan you can also opt for a prepaid cell phone. These are booming in popularity and are in fact the fastest growing segment in the wireless telephone industry. You can get relatively competitive plans with no contracts that tie you down for up to 2 years. Not only that, but with a prepaid plan you have no termination fee, which means when your financial situation improves you can very easily upgrade again to one of the 4 large national carriers.

Preferred Financial Services is a debt reduction firm certified by the CFC (Center for Financial Certifications) and accredited by U.S.O.B.A. (United States Organizations for Bankruptcy Alternatives). Headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts, Preferred Financial Services has been a leader in the debt reduction industry since 2003. Preferred Financial Services has acquired some of the best experience in the industry over the past seven years. In 2009 alone Preferred Financial Services reduced over $16.5 million worth of consumer debt for just $6.4 million, for a savings of about 60%- and over 2,900 accounts were settled on behalf of their clients.

For more information, please visit www.pfsdebtrelief.com or follow us on our blog at www.pfsdebtrelief.com/blog/ .

Contact:

Stephan Tavernini

stavernini@pfs1.net

Original Article by Rik Fairlie

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Preferred Financial Services, Inc discusses the recently released positive economic reports ….

Andover, Massachusetts June 4th 2010— The past week has seen the release of many economic reports that indicate a continued strengthening of the economy in the month of May. Although many of the reports on jobs, manufacturing activity, and productivity are positive, there continue to be many underlying factors that could hamper growth in the near future.

The labor department released data today showing the economy added 431,000 jobs in May, which is the 5^th consecutive month of gains. However, 411,000 of those jobs were temporary census jobs that will expire by the end of the summer. Due to this increase in jobs, the unemployment rate dropped to 9.7% from 9.9% the month before. The report on productivity points to a possible increase in hiring in the near future as well. Productivity grew at the slowest rate in over a year, 2.8%. Unless companies can keep productivity growth high, they will be forced to take on more workers to fill the positions that were eliminated over the past 24-36 months.

Even though this increase in jobs and the ones before it are great news, they will have a limited impact as long as the overall economy remains weak and fragile. The International Council on Shopping released a report which said that consumer spending dipped again in May from a relatively strong April. Reasons for it include a damp and cool May as well as continued job worries, stock market volatility, as well as a decrease in government rebate programs. This drop in spending was offset by continued monthly increases in manufacturing output due to low inventory levels. Companies have held back on factory orders because they did not want to increase inventory as long as the economy was in a recession. As it is now coming out of it, companies will be forced to replenish historically low inventory levels. No matter what these figures say for the month of May, unless employment continues to increase we can expect future weakness in consumer spending which is directly related to manufacturing output. Keep in mind, consumer spending makes up a majority of economic activity in the US.

Preferred Financial Services is a debt reduction firm certified by the CFC (Center for Financial Certifications) and accredited by U.S.O.B.A. (United States Organizations for Bankruptcy Alternatives). Headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts, Preferred Financial Services has been a leader in the debt reduction industry since 2003. Preferred Financial Services has acquired some of the best experience in the industry over the past 7 years. In 2009 alone Preferred Financial Services reduced over $16.5 million worth of consumer debt for just $6.4 million, for a savings of about 60%- and over 2,900 accounts were settled on behalf of their clients.

For more information, please visit www.pfsdebtrelief.com or follow us on our blog at www.pfsdebtrelief.com/blog/ .

Contact:

Stephan Tavernini

stavernini@pfs1.net

Original Article by Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer

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Preferred Financial Services, Inc analyzes the recently released debt-related stress poll and what it means for America….

Andover, Massachusetts June 2nd 2010—Preferred Financial Services has analyzed and reviewed the most recent poll that asked Americans how stressed they are in regards to their personal debt situation. The data was collected from over 1,000 American adults in the 2^nd week of May nationwide. It highlights how many things have improved for Americans since the last time this poll was taken a year ago but the amount of debt related stress Americans are dealing with has not dropped significantly. While there is plenty of good news that goes along with the poll, the high levels of stress many Americans expressed shows that while the economy has significantly improved in the past year, personal financial situations have not for most Americans. 

Around 46% of those surveyed said they were suffering from debt related stress, which is right in line with the data from a year ago. Of those 46%, half of them suffered from a great deal of stress. A year ago, when this survey was last conducted, jobs were being cut, the economy was still shrinking, and business and consumer confidence were at a low point. As such, it wasn’t a surprise at the time at the huge levels of stress the economy had put on American households. This new survey however shows that even though economic indicators have improved across the board, debt related stress has not budged. The leading factor that economists and sociologists have pinpointed is stubbornly high unemployment rate. At 9.9%, it has actually gone up in the past few months as more people are reentering the work force and looking for work. This data further suggests that as long as people are afraid of losing their jobs, they will continue to be worried about their debt levels. Additionally, when taking part time and underemployed worker into account, the unemployment rate is closer to 20% which would make up a significant part of the 46% of those surveyed who feel stress related to debt.

While this is all mostly bad news, there is some encouraging news on the consumer behavior front. The recession has changed consumer habits and this hopefully will lead to more financially secure households once the job market improves. Average credit card debt has dipped to $3900, $1700 less than just 8 months ago. In fact, household debt dipped 1.7% in 2009 to a low of 13.5 trillion dollars, the first time it has dropped since records began in 1945. The most encouraging bit of news for Americans has been the continued rise in the savings rate. 4.2% of disposable household income was saved in 2009, the highest it has been since 1998.  This new saving trend should bode well once the economy improves as consumers will be less burdened by costly debt as  in the past. They will be able to consume and purchase new items without taking on new lines credit as was the case during the recent housing bubble when millions of households tapped the equity in their house to live beyond their means. While the bubble allowed for a very high standard of living, the subsequent collapse in real estate values has altered how Americans use and view debt.

Preferred Financial Services is a debt reduction firm certified by the CFC (Center for Financial Certifications) and accredited by U.S.O.B.A. (United States Organizations for Bankruptcy Alternatives). Headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts, Preferred Financial Services has been a leader in the debt reduction industry since 2003. Preferred Financial Services has acquired some of the best experience in the industry over the past 7 years. In 2009 alone Preferred Financial Services reduced over $16.5 million worth of consumer debt for just $6.4 million, for a savings of about 60%- and over 2,900 accounts were settled on behalf of their clients.

For more information, please visit: www.pfsdebtrelief.com

Contact:

Stephan Tavernini

stavernini@pfs1.net

Original Article by Jeannine Aversa, AP Economics Writer

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