Preferred Financial Services

Andover, Massachusetts September 29^th, 2010 –  As we start to recover from the past two years of economic misery, many Americans are asking themselves what they can do personally to avoid a repeat of the mistakes that led to the massive personal finance problems facing millions of Americans today. Not only are over 15 million Americans still unemployed today, but over 1.5 million people filed for personal bankruptcy last year, a spike of 20% over 2008. On a historical level, these numbers are way outside the average and need to be addressed not at the federal level, but at the individual level. Americans need to know the mistakes to avoid so that they can ensure a promising economic future for themselves and their families. The following is a list of 5 financial decisions/actions that should be avoided at all costs…

1. Playing with Plastic. The easiest way to ruin your finances is through credit card debt. While this has always been an issue for families the problem has become more acute as individuals struggle to find jobs and keep them in this tough economy. While credit cards can be used effectively, the majority of Americans use them to live beyond their means. Avoid credit card debt and you are taking a huge step towards avoiding bankruptcy.
2. Relying on Insurance only to Cover Medical Bills. Remember, the number one cause of Bankruptcy in the US is medical bills. In fact, according to studies done by Harvard, 62% of personal bankruptcies are related to medical bills. While this is shocking to say the least, even more troubling is the fact that 78% of those that filed for bankruptcy due to medical bills had health insurance. The lesson here is that even with health insurance, everyone needs to set aside money each year to cover their medical expenses, because you never know when an accident will happen
3. Payday Loans. By far the easiest mistake to avoid, payday loan operations serve a purpose, but for 99% of the people who take out the loans it’s a bad financial move. Not only are these loans extremely expensive, typically averaging well over 200% in interest but they also point to a much deeper spending problem. Payday loans are designed to help people get by in between pay periods. But, if you manage your money correctly you should have no problem surviving between pay periods. If you are using these currently, not only are you wasting money but you are also ignoring the underlying problem that is overspending and poor money management.
4. Trying to Outspend your Neighbors. This phenomenon really peaked up steam in the late 1990’s and for most of the past decade. As everyone was using their homes as virtual ATM’s and personal credit card debt sky rocketed everyone’s perceived net worth went up. So, as is typical among humans, jealousy became a factor and families across the nation tried to keep up with their neighbors by borrowing money to purchase luxury cars, luxury vacations, and luxury consumer goods. Don’t worry what your neighbor is doing, only worry about your own finances and if you can afford whatever it is you want to buy.
5. Overestimating your Degree’s Actual Value. While an education has always and will always be extremely beneficial for your long-term income potential, the type of degree you earn and the amount of debt incurred to receive this degree can be huge factors in whether or not your personal finances are sound. It is important that students analyze the field of study they are looking into to determine if the degree they are getting justifies the debt being accumulated. Student loan debt is becoming an increasingly large share of American personal debt. Make sure the degree you get can pay for the monthly student loan payments over the next decade or two.

Readers, how did you go about shopping for back to school supplies this year? Did you stick with Sale Items or are you confident enough in your employment prospects that you have finally hit the shopping mall in force again?

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

Marketing Coordinator

Certified Educator in Personal Finance

Preferred Financial Services

stavernini@pfs1.net

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Andover, Massachusetts September 28^th, 2010 –  While the stock market continues to rebound well in September and the recession has now “Officially” been over for over a year, consumer confidence remains well below a healthy level. In September the consumer confidence index dropped to 48.5, down from 53.2 in August and well below what is considered a healthy level of 90. While a drop was expected, the size of it was not. So what does this mean for the economy and your families’ finances?

Before we start fear mongering again about a double dip recession keep in mind that general economic indicators over the past month have been surprisingly positive. Private sector hiring has increased, the trade deficit has dropped, housing prices are on the rise, new unemployment claims are down, industrial production is up, and the stock market is reaching heights not seen since the beginning of the recession. So, although consumers remain extremely skeptical of the recovery, businesses are seeing improvements across the board.

While this is all good news, it is vital that consumer confidence start to rebound. Businesses have been reorganizing and improving productivity through job cuts since late 2008. This has allowed corporate profits to remain high and with it stock prices while hurting those on Main Street without a job. But productivity gains can only get you so far. Eventually, demand will have to pick up or the recovery will begin to lose steam. Remember, consumer spending makes up 70% of the US economy, so without consumer demand the economy will not reach the 3%+ in GDP growth that is needed to significantly cut unemployment numbers.

Either way, this news does not impact the recovery at the moment. But for a sustained recovery that lasts well beyond this year the US economy needs consumers to regain the confidence that they had before the recession. Increased confidence will lead to increased demand for not only basic goods and services but also luxury goods and services. I consider this index to be a lagging indicator in that it does not forecast confidence into the future. Instead what it does is gauge the mood of consumers based on how they have dealt with the economy in the past. I expect this number to go up as Businesses start to hire more workers again heading into the holiday season.

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

Marketing Coordinator

Certified Educator in Personal Finance

Preferred Financial Services

stavernini@pfs1.net

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Andover, Massachusetts September 27th, 2010 – Preferred Financial Services is proud to announce that one of their Staff Members, Stephan Tavernini, is now certified by the Center for Financial Certifications as an Educator in Personal Finance (CEPF).  After studying all facets of Personal Finance including Money Management, Credit, Debt Management, Investing/Retiring, and Insurance, Stephan applied for and took an exam created by the Institute for Financial Literacy. He passed with flying colors and is now certified to guide Americans both young and old about Personal Finance and how to improve their financial future.

This is certainly great news for current and future PFS clients as education is a big part of the company’s mission. Not only do we strive to reduce and eliminate our clients’ debt but we also want to make sure that our clients have the tools and education necessary to remain debt free after our program. As such, having a CEPF on staff will allow PFS to implement more proactive programs that will educate and teach clients about their finances and what they can do to make sure they never end up in the same debt situation again. Besides already using our Blog and monthly newsletter to communicate important and educational Personal Finance articles to our clients, PFS will continue to work on new and innovate ways of reaching out to our clients in the hopes of educating them about what Personal Finance is and why it is so important to them.

I recommend all our clients to regularly visit our Blog at www.pfsdebtrelief.com/blog to read the articles that Stephan Tavernini will be creating. If you have any specific topics you would like us to discuss or if you have any specific questions regarding Personal Finance, please contact Stephan directly at stavernini@pfs1.net. We look forward to Stephan growing our educational component of our program and hope you will take advantage of it as much as possible.

Thank you,

Gabriel Tavarez

GM of Preferred Financial Services

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September 24th, 2010, Andover Massachusetts – While stock prices have recovered significantly since they hit rock bottom in early 2009, their appeal as a long term investment option for retirement continues to be questioned by some. Millions of Americans saw most of their retirement planning go out the window as the stock market started to nosedive in late November 2008. Many jumped the gun and got out then, only to see prices recover to the point where loses are now less than 20%. But many who didn’t jump ship still are not seeing the returns they expected when they first started investing in the stock market. Due to this, millions of younger Americans are questioning whether or not stocks are they right way to save for retirement.

While the past two years have been extremely hard on all of us, the long term trends of the stock market still point towards stocks being a vital and large part of any retirement planning. The thing to remember when looking at the past 2 years of horrible returns is that retirement planning is a long term project. While millions of Americans who are near retirement age probably will have a hard time enjoying the retirement they had saved for, the rest of us have enough time to recoup the losses of the past 24 months and in fact enjoy quite strong returns moving forward. Obviously, stocks are much riskier than CD’s, money market accounts, bonds, or just plain old savings accounts, but they are also the only option that exists that can get you the returns you need to live in retirement comfortably. You would be lucky to get yearly returns over 1% with the previously mentioned retirement options, but stocks have a historical yearly return over 7%. While this number can be deceiving, it does indicate that over the long term, the returns offered by stocks far outweigh the risks and fluctuations that come with investing in the stock market.

Remember, market investing, especially for retirement is a multi decade process so although the past 2 years have been tough on your portfolio, you should see returns over the long run that will far outpace anything else on the market. My advice, don’t follow the daily stock market fluctuations. All it will do is cause you to lose sleep and over analyze everything. If you are just starting out in your career or are still young enough where you have another 20 or so years of working ahead of you, stocks are still the best option to secure yourself a safe and comfortable retirement. Having said that though, diversification is the key to any well designed retirement plan. You should never have 100% of your portfolio in any one investment option. Diversify so that your portfolio will be better suited to handle the ups and downs that come with investing.

Readers, have you weathered the storm of the past 2 years or did you bail on the market during its worst times? Are you still confident that stocks can get you financially ready to retire or are you looking at different assets such as bonds, precious metals, or annuities?

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

Marketing Coordinator

Certified Educator in Personal Finance

Certified IAPDA Debt Arbitrator

stavernini@pfs1.net

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Andover, Massachusetts September 22nd, 2010 – A home mortgage is the largest single bill an average American will have in his lifetime. While in the past there weren’t many options besides a fixed rate, 15, 20, or 30 year mortgage, today consumers have a variety of different ways to pay down this debt, each with unique strengths and many with increased risks. As we have readjusted to the new realities of slow economic growth and high unemployment, a shift in how mortgages are paid off is also occurring.

During the boom years of the past decade mortgage products such as Adjustable Rate Mortgages and Interest Only Mortgages ballooned in popularity as they allowed more and more people to purchase ever larger houses without actually having the long term means to support it. The end result? Record foreclosures as soon as the economy started to falter as interest rates jumped and people who lost their jobs couldn’t even afford the interest only payments on their homes

The current state of the housing market has been a real wake up call to Americans who have used their homes as virtual ATM’s for the past 20 years. More and more families are realizing that all it takes is one disaster, illness, or job loss and that home they were barely paying for before is now impossible to keep. This has led to a renewed interest in fixed rate mortgages, particularly 15 year fixed rate mortgages. While in the past homes were seen as investments and a 30 year term was seen as the norm, more and more people over the past year have realized that any kind of debt puts a strain on their lives, even if they consider it “good” debt. For the first half of 2010, 26% of all homeowners who refinanced their mortgages chose a 15 year fixed term, this compares to 18.5% in 2009 and 9.4% in 2008. While much of this shift can be attributed to a shift in consumers acceptance of debt, there are other factors at play as well. Mortgage rates are at historical lows, so a 15 year mortgage now has the same monthly payment as a 30 year mortgage had 2 years ago. While this is extremely appealing to many, it is important to remain flexible. If a 15 year term decreases your flexibility and forces you to cut expenses in other areas it might not be the right option for you. Like before, a single disaster could throw your plan out of whack and force you to sell or lose your home to foreclosure. If you are on a tight budget, refinance to a 30 year term and just pay extra each month. This gives you the flexibility of paying down your mortgage as fast as you can as well as giving you the option of not paying extra in months where you have other expenses crop up.

Readers, have the record low interest rates tempted you to refinance? Has a 15 year mortgage appealed to you or do you think the extra flexibility that a 30 year term gives you outweighs the extra costs associated with more payments?

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

Marketing Coordinator

Certified IAPDA Debt Arbitrator

Preferred Financial Services

stavernini@pfs1.net

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Andover, Massachusetts September 21st, 2010 – The Commerce Department today released housing data for the month of August and contrary to all the doom and gloom scenarios, the housing sector appears to be heading in the same direction as the economy, Up. New home and apartment construction as well as applications for building permits in the future increased last month to the highest levels since April of 2010. Remember, from May to July we saw extremely discouraging economic news as the country appeared to be heading for a double dip recession. This news indicates that the economy has overcome the summer blues and is now heading back in the right direction.

Construction of new homes and apartments rose 10.5% in August compared to July, and while most of the increase came in the smaller apartment sector, any increase at this point is welcome news for current and future homeowners. While builders remain worried about the future of the housing market, this 10.5% increase should signal that consumers are willing to enter the housing market again in larger numbers. The new annual rate is around 600,000 new constructions per year, the highest level since April. Coincidentally, April was also the last month of the federal housing tax credit program which means the housing market is now at a level that was reached only 4 months ago without a tax incentive. The largest increase was seen in the apartment and condo market where an increase of 32% was way beyond estimates. Single family home starts also grew but by a much slower rate of only 4%. While the condo/apartment market only makes up 26% of the entire sector, maybe this is changing. Perhaps people are seeing that single family home ownership is not what it was made out to be before the recession. All the added costs of homeownership including maintenance, property taxes, and utilities might finally be too much for many cash strapped Americans. Keep an eye on this statistic as we may be witnessing a fundamental shift away from single family homes and towards apartments and condos.

Obviously there is still plenty of uncertainty in the housing market. High unemployment and strict lending standards will continue to limit the housing market for the foreseeable future. However, as the 2% increase in building permit applications in August shows, there is a positive trend to found here. If permits continue to rise we should expect a significantly healthier housing market in 2011. Not only is this good news for the housing and construction industries but it will also be good news for current homeowners who should see their home values continue to rise as the economy improves.

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

Marketing Coordinator

Certified IAPDA Debt Arbitrator

Preferred Financial Services

stavernini@pfs1.net

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Andover, Massachusetts September 20th, 2010 – In another example of how the economic recession has changed personal finance in this country, Americans now would rather use their debit cards than their credit cards. This is quite a reversal after the last decade showed record credit card use along with record high credit card debt. 2009 was the first year ever that debit card use exceeded credit card use in the US, and the trend is expected to continue in 2010.

While this change was not entirely unexpected, it is still important to understand why Americans are turning away from a product that has become a staple in almost every American family. The prosperity and grandiose living of the past 2 decades can be largely attributed to the large amounts of credit available to consumers, mostly from Credit Card Companies. As long as monthly minimum payments remained affordable, Americans were able to purchase and live the high life without having to worry about paying for in full at the time of purchase. Not only was this great for the consumer, but it also allowed the US economy to grow and remain the largest in the world. Consumer spending makes up over 70% of the US GDP, by far the largest percentage of any developed country. While the short term effects of this were great, the long term consequences of relying on credit can now be fully appreciated.

All it took was a job loss, medical emergency or other disaster that limited an individual’s ability to earn a weekly paycheck. The recession of 2008 was this disaster, and the resulting unemployment led to a massive increase in delinquent credit card accounts, foreclosures on homes, and record low credit scores for millions of Americans. We lived throughout much of the past 20 years without thinking of the future. Certainly the high rolling ride was great while it lasted, but now reality has set in. Americans are starting to realize that driving a $100,000 car on a yearly salary of half of that is not sustainable or smart. Hopefully our economy can adjust to more responsible consumer spending so that we can create economic growth without jeopardizing the future of American families.

Readers, were you one of the millions of Americans who ran up credit card debt over the past 2 decades? Did the recession change your spending habits? Are you making a concerted effort to get out of 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 or follow us on our blog at www.pfsdebtrelief.com/blog/ .

Contact:

Stephan Tavernini

Marketing Coordinator

Certified IAPDA Debt Arbitrator

Preferred Financial Services

stavernini@pfs1.net

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Andover, Massachusetts September 17th, 2010 – While there are still “experts” and economists that are predicting a double dip recession and much more pain to come for American families, the data that we have seen over the past 2 weeks says that two of the biggest threats to the economy are fading as summer ends and fall begins. If you had polled economists and financial professionals 2 months ago a significant number of them would have said that it was likely that another round of mass layoffs was coming and that the Fed’s monetary policy was going to lead to deflation in the near future. Luckily for us and our bank accounts, neither one of these seems to be imminent or possible in the near future.

After seeing a spike to nearly 500,000 new unemployment claims per week in August we have seen a gradual reduction over the past month to a two month low of 450,000 last week. If this trend continues we should see these claims fall below the all important 400,000 mark within the next 6 months. In fact, claims have dropped by 11% in just the last month. 400,000 new claims is a key number because anything below this indicates that the economy is growing fast enough to lower the unemployment rate whereas anything over 400,000 claims indicates that employers are still not hiring enough new employees to offset those being laid off and new workers entering the labor pool. So what was the meaning behind the spike in August in unemployment claims? Experts believe it could be a variety of factors including seasonal labor factors (certain industries shed jobs in the summer) and the termination of thousands of temporary census workers as the Census Operation wound down. Until we see otherwise, expect the labor market to stabilize and grow moderately over the next 3-6 months.

The 2^nd fear and one that could have had dramatic consequences for the USA was deflation, something not seen since the 1930’s. While this topic is thoroughly studied by economists and is given a lot of attention the fact that it has not occurred in over 70 years indicates that the chances of this ever happening is slim even in the worst of times. The lax monetary policy that has led to record low interest rates to spur lending has not had the effects that were hoped for. Lending to small business and homeowners remains extremely tight even though banks and other lenders have access to extremely cheap money. While cheap money and the printing of billions of dollars to support government spending generally leads to inflation, consumer prices had dropped for 3 consecutive months in the early summer as home prices continued to fall, wages stagnated, and the job market situation made demand for consumer goods extremely weak and unreliable. However, the latest reports indicate that consume prices rose .4% in August and .2% in July. Not only does this show that deflation is not on the horizons but it also indicates that the Fed’s policies have kept inflation in check so far. While the current monetary and fiscal policies will lead to inflation eventually if not altered, the fact that it remains in check at the moment is good news not only for the economy as a whole but families in particular. Rampant inflation during this tough economy would lead to ever increasing prices on consumer goods, food, and gasoline which would put an even bigger strain on household budgets. Keep an eye on this number in the future as no one really knows where it is heading.

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

Marketing Coordinator

Certified IAPDA Debt Arbitrator

Preferred Financial Services

stavernini@pfs1.net

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Andover, Massachusetts September 15th, 2010 – Gold and the economy have typically had an inverse relationship since we went off the gold standard in the early 1970’s. That means that as our economy experienced boom times gold prices tended to fall dramatically and when we hit rough spots gold typically rose in value. Yesterday gold hit a new recent high of over $1270 per oz. Although the economy isnt in great shape, it is by no means in a recession so this gold price raises some questions.

Gold is typically seen as a hedge against future inflation and uncertain economic times. Consumers consider physical gold a good safety net in case their savings are wiped out by inflation or a stock market collapse. But, in this case, if that were true then the stock market shouldnt be doing as well as it is. If consumers were flocking to gold and thus driving its price higher and higher than either inflation should be creeping up or the economy should be in a nose dive. Neither is true so I can only drawy one conclusion from these new recent highs.

Investors and to a smaller extent consumers are betting that fear will continue to drive the price of gold up, even though the fundamentals are saying that gold is already overpriced. Is this the next bubble that consumers could be falling into? I believe so, there is no reason gold is higher now than it was during the height of the recent recession. Consumers should be aware of this and not blindly follow investors and especially unqualified news sources who predict that gold will continue to reach new heights and eclipse $1500 per oz  by the end of the year. Stay informed, and make sure you are getting your investing advice from a certified financial planner.

Readers, are you betting on gold to continue to rise or have you already realized huge gains by selling now? Is your advisor still urging you to invest in gold, and if so, what are his/her reasons for doing so?

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

Marketing Coordinator

Certified IAPDA Debt Arbitrator

Preferred Financial Services

stavernini@pfs1.net

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Andover, Massachusetts September 14th, 2010 – Fall has now finally arrived and with it the end of summer economic reports. We can now analyze what August means for the economy moving forward but also what the past 3 months have taught us about the state of the economy. Late spring and early summer some grim economic indicators as the economy seemed destined to dip back into a recession. As the numbers from August indicate, a double dip recession is now extremely unlikely and in fact the new focus is going to be on how much growth we can expect to see over the last four months of the year.

Retail sales rose in August by .4%, the largest increase in 5 months and another sign that the economy is in fact growing and not teetering on the brink of a double dip recession like some news organizations, columnists, and economists want you to believe. In fact, when auto sales are not included the rise was .6%, very healthy numbers for an economy that still has historically high unemployment. Retailers should be particularly excited by this news as much of the increase came from department stores and regular retail outlets. Since auto sales declined by .7%, this news indicates that consumers are returning to shopping and spending their money as a result of steady if not great employment numbers. While the unemployed continue to be stuck with limited job prospects, those that are working seem to be willing to spend their money more than at any time over the past 6 months.

A great example of this would be the back to school shopping season. In a typical recessionary environment, we would have expected to see declines in back to school shopping sprees but the opposite was true this year. Major retailers like Wal Mart, Target, and Best Buy have all given early indications that August was a great month for them, highlighted by the recent announcement that Best Buy has reported a 60% jump in income for the 2^nd Quarter. While it is clear that we are not out of the woods yet, I do not expect us to head back into a recessionary environment anytime soon. It will take a significant economic event to jolt the consumer again and cause them to reign in spending. Remember, if US consumers return to spending levels even close to what they were before the recession, we should expect the US economy to continue to grow and jobs to become more and more common over the next 6-12 months.

Readers, how did you go about shopping for back to school supplies this year? Did you stick with Sale Items or are you confident enough in your employment prospects that you have finally hit the shopping mall in force again?

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

Marketing Coordinator

Certified IAPDA Debt Arbitrator

Preferred Financial Services

stavernini@pfs1.net

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