Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> On 4/18/2020 3:26 PM, wrote:
> > On Saturday, April 18, 2020 at 8:57:24 AM UTC-5, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> >>
> >> I would expect poverty
> >> areas to have a higher incidence of late bill payment than the well to
> >> do areas.
> >>
> > This really has nothing to do with the water being cut-off discussion but
> > 25 years ago I would pay all my utility bills at a drugstore about 2 miles
> > from my house. It sat at the edge of the projects and I would stand in line
> > with the black, white, and Hispanic folks living there and paying their
> > utility bills as well. It was a learning experience for sure. For one,
> > I was the only person who paid her bills with checks. Two, I did not
> > know you could only pay so much on a bill and still have service. Third,
> > the drugstore did a bang-up business selling money orders. Money orders
> > were purchased for other bills and so send money south of the border.
> >
> > When the utility companies started doing auto bank draft I was signing up
> > immediately. Standing in line behind folks buying money orders and paying
> > a dib and dab here and there on their bills was a sure way to kill time and
> > be bored to death.
> >
> The drug store was an important part of the local economy back then.
> Many of those people had two problems. For some, they did not have the
> $25 or so to open a checking account and if they did, many did not have
> the ability of manage one.
>
> Lower income people have a lot of disadvantages. They get paid with a
> check and [ay to cash it, then they pay a charge to pay a bill, if they
> have a credit card they pay the highest interest rates. If they get
> trapped in the payday loan thing they pay 300% interest.
Some are also afraid of opening bank accounts for fear of being "found", e.g. they owe past - due child support, are being sought for overdue bills/loans, or they are just paranoid...also a dearth of banks in most poor nabes, the currency exchange is just down the corner....
We require our clients at our workforce agency to have a Financial Supports Coach, first thing is pulling a credit report, then establishing a payment plan/budget if needed, and if they've no bank account we work with a local non - profit credit union to open one (a secured one if they wish to open a line of credit, after one year the CU will match their initial $300.00 account, giving them a credit line of $600.00 or more). After sorting that all out, and once the clients attain employment, there often is a rise in their credit scores. Many have no credit score at all, do not know how to manage debt, etc...she can help negotiate with lenders, etc...
These Financial Support services are also available to us staff, some have found good rates on car loans, mortgages, etc....
We also have a certified financial planner (was a CPA for a major automaker) on staff, he assists with investment planning, retirement planning, etc....again this is for both clients and staff, very helpful to us all...
There is a DIRE need for better financial literacy in the US, even many young - or not young! - professionals have not a clue...
--
Best
Greg