Things To Do In SW Florida

Holly D. Johnson | Bankrate.com (TNS)

While rising interest rates have been a boon for savers who are now earning upwards of 5% with high-yield savings accounts and certificates of deposit (CDs), rising rates on loan products have historically played a role in slowing the economy down. But with recent rate increases from the Fed, most of us are starting to wonder where interest rates will go from here — and if a recession could be on the horizon in the coming months.

Unfortunately, an economic slowdown could impact people who are already struggling with credit card debt at today’s exceptionally high rates. According to recent data, the average interest rate charged on credit card accounts was 20.71% as of Sept. 20, 2023.

Credit expert John Ulzheimer, formerly at FICO and Equifax, says he believes banks and credit card issuers are better at predicting recessions and tough economic times than economists. Further, it’s not uncommon for banks to “clean up” their portfolios prior to economic downturns by lowering the limits on underperforming cardholder accounts and closing inactive accounts. read more

By Anna Helhoski | NerdWallet

With days left until a possible federal government shutdown, you might be wondering what this has to do with you.

Every year Congress approves 12 appropriations bills to keep the government going before the fiscal year ends after Sept. 30. This year, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-CA, wanted to negotiate, leaving the fate of federal services operations in limbo.

If Congress doesn’t act quickly to approve a new spending package or agree on a stopgap to delay the shutdown, the government will close up shop as of Sunday. But even a full shutdown doesn’t shut every door.

A government shutdown would play havoc with several federal government agencies and operations. That means nonessential services would be suspended, while other programs that receive mandatory funding would be spared. You don’t have to worry about things like air traffic control or power grid maintenance, for example.

Overall, the brunt of the disruption will fall on furloughed federal workers. The shutdown only ends when Congress can reach a funding agreement. read more

TALLAHASSEE — As it tries to move customers into the private market after three years of massive growth, the state’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. could start to see its number of policies decrease.

Citizens President and CEO Tim Cerio said Wednesday that Citizens is now forecasting it will have about 1.3 million policies at the end of 2023, after earlier estimates of 1.5 million to 1.7 million. It had 1.399 million policies as of Friday.

Cerio pointed to what is known as a “depopulation” effort aimed at shifting policies from Citizens to private insurers. Also, Florida has not had any property insurer insolvencies since early this year. In the past, some customers of insolvent insurers have turned to Citizens for coverage.

“Depop [depopulation] is critically important,” Cerio said after a meeting of the Citizens Board of Governors in Tallahassee. “We’ve got to do it for the health of the market.”

The Citizens board met after insurance regulators this month approved rate increases for Citizens customers. In part, rates will increase an average 11.5% for homeowners with the most-common type of policies, known as “multi-peril” policies, according to information provided to the board. read more