News from the Saline County Extension Center
 

May-June 2005

Thriving in
Saline County Newsletter Index

Human Environmental
Sciences Extension
Newsletters
 

Thriving in
Saline County
is written by:
Dr. Cynthia Crawford
Family and Consumer Economics Specialist, Saline County
Extension Office
660-886-6908
crawfordc@missouri.edu
153 S. Odell,
Marshall MO 65340
 

Saline County’s Economy
See if you can answer these questions about your county.

1. On a scale from 1 – 114, with 1 being the county with the largest total personal income and 114 being the county with the smallest total personal income, Saline County’s ranking is ____.

2. In 1992, Saline County’s ranking was ____ from the top.

3. In 2002, the total personal income in Saline County was _______.

a. $557,536,000 – which was 3% of the state’s TPI.

b. Some other number

4. Per capita (per person) personal income in Saline County in 2002 was _____________ which ranks ____ in the state.

5. Think of a circle as Saline County’s 2002 economy. Divide the circle into three parts (3 pieces of pie) showing the proportion of the economy that is:

a. net earnings by workers
b. dividends, interest and rent
c. transfer payments (payments from the government,
    including social security, Medicare and Medicaid)

6. From 1992 – 2002, did the proportion of net earnings by workers go:

a. Up
b. Down
c. Stayed the same

7. From 1992 – 2002, did the proportion of dividends, interest and rent go:

a. Up
b. Down
c. Stayed the same

8. Comparing 1992 to 2002, did the proportion of transfer payments go:

a. Up
b. Down
c. Stayed the same

9. Agriculture is an important part of Saline County.

a. True
b. False

My appreciation to Dr. Daryl Hobbs for his collaboration, Office of Social and Economic Data Analysis. http://www.oseda.missouri.edu

Cynthia Crawford

answers to Saline County’s Economy Quiz

Answers:

1. 42nd from the top
2. 38th
3. $557,536,000—total personal income
4. $24,231 which ranks _23rd
5. net earnings by workers 53.5%
   dividends, interest and rent 17.5%
   transfer payments 29 %
6. Stayed the same
7. Down
8. Up from 25% to 29%
9. TRUE!
   $90 million of agriculture commodity sales
   $21.4 million of government payments to agriculture
   $ 4.2 million misc. farm income
   $ 115.6 total gross Saline Co farm income in 2001

Don’t stop there in understanding and appreciating the contribution of agriculture to Saline County!

• Farmers tend to buy inputs for farming locally

• Many retirees depend on farm rent

• Remember the multiplier effect

• Tremendous contribution to assessed valuation 

Free Credit Reports—But Be Careful

Be Sure to Get Your Free Credit Reports -

March 1 was an important date – the first date Missouri residents could all access their credit report for free.

A recent amendment to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months. The three consumer reporting companies have set up one central web site, toll-free telephone number, and mailing address through which you can order your free annual report.

To order, visit www.AnnualCreditReport.com, call 877-322-8228, or complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. The form can be printed from the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov/credit. You may order your reports from each of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies at the same time, or you can order from only one or two.

Do not contact the three nationwide consumer reporting companies individually.

The FCRA promotes the accuracy and privacy of information in the files of the nation’s consumer reporting companies. The Federal Trade Commission, the nation’s consumer protection agency, enforces the FCRA with respect to consumer reporting companies.

A credit report contains information on where you live, how you pay your bills, and whether you’ve been sued, arrested, or filed for bankruptcy. Nationwide consumer reporting companies sell the information in your report to creditors, insurers, employers, and other businesses that use it to evaluate your applications for credit, insurance, employment, or renting a home.

Free reports are being phased in during a nine-month period, rolling from the West Coast to the East beginning December 1, 2004. Beginning September 1, 2005, free reports will be accessible to all Americans, regardless of where they live.

If you haven’t reviewed your report yet in 2005, this is your friendly reminder. As many as 25% of all credit reports contain errors. Identity thefts are often discovered by reviewing credit reports.

Your credit report is overused

Certainly, it is appropriate for lenders to use your credit report to determine whether to loan you money or not. More and more, though, employers are reviewing credit reports of prospective employees. Insurance companies may review credit reports to determine whether they will issue insurance policies and what premiums to charge.

Prospective employers may check your credit report before deciding whether to hire you. They may even check your credit report to decide if you are a terrorist threat before you board an airplane!

Appropriate or not, be aware that more and more people are interested in what your credit report contains.

Your FICO Score

This number can stand between you and a new home, car or loan. Ranging from 300 to 850 and called a FICO score, it helps lenders assess your risk of default, explains Liz Weston, author of Your Credit Score. “Generally, 720 and above is considered good, from 620 to 720 is mediocre and less than 620 is poor,” she explains.

AFCPE reports that lenders may use the FICO score to evaluate creditworthiness, but also to set the interest rate charged on approved loans. The FICO score is the result of a complex mathematical formula that considers (in order of importance) repayment history, amount of credit owed, length of credit history, number of new accounts and type of accounts.

Do the following improve your FICO score?

The fewer credit accounts, the better. False.
Individuals with no credit accounts or history can’t be scored. The ideal number, according to the AFCPE report, is 7-8 open accounts.

Put your debt on one account and have other unused accounts. No.
The ratio of outstanding debt to the maximum available on each account is key.

Close unused accounts. Maybe false.
See myth 1. In addition, the length of your credit history is very important and closing older accounts will lower the credit score.

Take advantage of new, lower-rate debt. It’s tempting, but your score will decrease each time an authorized credit inquiry is made.
The more inquiries lenders make, because of your legitimate requests for credit, the lower your score.. Requests stay on your record for two years.

Income matters. Not true.
It may matter to lenders, but not to the credit score. “Apparently research suggests that it is more action than your income that determines the likelihood you’ll repay your debt,” reports AFCPE.

Credit scores are free under FCRA. False.
Consumers may get their credit report once a year for free, but credit scores are not included. Ironically, our credit score may be one of our most important assets!

The Needs “Runneth Over” for Family Financial Education

Half of all Americans are living paycheck to paycheck

Personal bankruptcy filings were up 7.4% last year. Over 1.5 million people filed for bankruptcy in 2002

More young people filed for bankruptcy than graduated from college in 2001

The US has the lowest personal savings rate of any major industrialized nation

From 1992-2000, disposable personal income rose 47% but personal spending climbed 61%. At the same time, the overall personal savings rate fell from 8.7% of disposable income in 1992 to zero

The personal savings went negative for the first time ever in 1998. Americans are spending $100.20 for every $100.00 they bring home

It costs the average American family over $200,000 to raise a child to 18

Only 5% of investors believe they know everything they need to know to make good investment decisions

20% of employees are unable to carry out normal work activities three days per week due to financial concerns

2 out of 3 households will probably not be able to accomplish one of their major life goals because they did not plan for the future

43% of adults at the lowest level of financial literacy live in poverty, compared to only 4% of those at the highest level of financial literacy

Approximately 57% of all divorces are due to arguments over money

The traditional value of “save now and buy later” has been replaced by a modern one, “buy now and pay later.”

Seventy percent of college undergraduates have at least one credit card, and 20 percent of students who carry balances on their cards have debts of more than $10,000

Only 21 percent of students between the ages of 16 and 22 say they have taken a personal finance course at school

(Statistics were provided by the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Federal Reserve, and the National Endowment for Financial Education)

“Stretch Your Dollar “ Classes

During the month of June, there will be two series of the “Stretch Your Dollar” classes held in Saline County. There are three sessions to each series of classes.

• Basic Budgeting And Money Management
• Manage Your Food Dollars Even Better
• Stretch Your Housing Dollars

Both series are set for June 8, June 15, and June 22. Thee Food Pantry in Sweet Springs will host the classes from 9:30 – 11:30 am each morning. The second set is at the FSD Office in Marshall from 1:30 – 3:30 pm. The classes are free so come join us for some fun. Call 886-6908 to register. There will be snacks and door prizes, too!

We will be repeating the classes again September 13, 20 and 27 from 5:30—7:30 p.m. and November 2, 9 and 16 from 3:30—5:30 in Marshall.

Site Administrator: mofamweb@missouri.edu Last updated:06/22/2004 Copyright ADA Equal Opportunity