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Debt is a monster in our culture threatening to devour individuals and families. One indicator of how close to the edge of insolvency people live can be seen by the fact that there are more payday lender locations in the U. S. then there are Starbucks and McDonald’s locations combined. --Jim L. Wilson…

“The average American with credit card debt owes more than $15,000.” Our massive debts have spawned a whole community of experts explaining how to manage or get rid of the debt. “The strategy begins with cutting up those cards that have the debt.” Then have a strategy to begin paying them off, one by…

As we try to stay out of debt, society offers us more and more ways to get in over our heads. Researchers at George Washington University say one in four Americans has used “alternative financing” options such as payday loans, pawn shops, auto-title loans, and tax refund anticipation loans. Believers…

Many people at some point discover their debt is more than they can easily handle. That point came suddenly to Ann Wiley of Gwinnett County, Ga. Her bank cut her off when she attempted to make an online payment. When she looked at her balance it was in the red. It was $100 million in the red. She logged…

A very tired employee at a German bank fell asleep at the keyboard while entering a transaction and accidentally turned a small transfer into a $200 million order. The man was supposed to transfer 62.40 Euros from a bank account belonging to a retiree. Because he was nodding off, he accidentally entered…

As countries in Europe continue to see economically difficult times, many people are taking their money out of banks in order to protect their savings. Authorities say the citizens of these countries are concerned that their savings will disappear if their country should stop using the common currency…

The best type of debt is debt that builds wealth over the long run, and the No. 1 example of that is mortgage debt. "Home values have increased an average of 6.5 percent a year over the past 30 years," says Bach. "So when you borrow to buy a home, chances are that's good debt. You'll build value." -by…

An Ohio woman who recently celebrated her 100th birthday could set a new standard for customer loyalty because she is still using the bank account she opened the year before World War I began. June Gregg told a friend that her account is the same one her father opened for her in January 1913. Gregg was…

Writing about the current credit crisis in American life, Gigi A. Berman learned an old truth. Benjamin Franklin said, “He that goes a-borrowing goes a-sorrowing.” --Time March 29, 2010 p. 50. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell Old Ben wasn’t the first sage to warn us of the danger of debt.…

DREAMS The creator of Veggie Tales, Phil Vischer, recently told a crowd of Christian journalists the Lord used bankruptcy to humble him to pursue God rather than a dream. At the Evangelical Press Association’s opening banquet, Vischer explained that he found himself facing a God he had never heard about…

VALUE Authorities in India say they are considering charges of negligence against bank officials after termites destroyed millions of rupees. 10 million rupees ($222,000 US) in currency notes were stored in a steel chest at a bank in northern India. When a manager opened the reinforced room in an old…

Juan Zamora of Richland, Washington owed a bill he could not pay for a charge he did not make. After filling up with gasoline and charging the $26 to his PayPal debit card, he arrived home to a message on his answering machine. The message, from PayPal asked him to verify a gas purchase of $81,400,836,908…

FINANCES USA Today reports that the ten largest US banks make their profit from people who don’t keep track. Their biggest money maker is to pay checks presented to them drawn on accounts that have insufficient funds to cover. Then they charge the customer a large fee, some as large as $50.00 for overdrawing…

DEBT When Josh Muszynski stopped at the convenience store, he never realized how much the trip was going to cost him. Muszynski purchased one small item, and wound up with a 23 quadrillion dollar charge on his debit card. He found the error when he checked his online statement later. Muszynski discovered…

MONEY When Randy Pratt discovered that someone deposited $177,000 in his bank account last summer, he figured the money must be gift from God. Instead of alerting the bank, Pratt and his wife withdrew the money, quit their jobs and moved to Florida. Over the next several months, Pratt and his wife gave…

TREASURE An Israeli woman, who has a fear of banks, claims she accidentally threw nearly one million dollars into the trash. The woman told reporters that she bought her elderly mother a new mattress as a surprise present. After she replaced the old one, she remembered that her life savings, nearly one…

A bank robber shoved a note across to the teller: “Put the money in this bag, and don’t make a move.” The teller took her time to write and push back her own note: “Straighten your tie, stupid. They’re taking your picture.”