DO NOW: What attitudes do people have about the use of credit?   Always pay cash, Credit --Credit is never borrow use only whenthe way for purchases. necessary.I live. Place yourself on this continuum and give reasons for your choice. Describe any personal experiences that you may have had with credit cards.

How do you define credit? – What are the different types of credit? – Where can I get credit?

Credit: Advantages & Disadvantages What are the advantages of credit? How might you (or people you know) use credit in the near future? What are the disadvantages of credit? How can credit be abused? What is predatory lending?

Research Links: The Story of Consumer Credit (PDF provided by the Federal Reserve bank) df

Important terms to know… Annual Fee: a charge by some credit card companies for the use of the card and services APR (Annual Percentage Rate): a rate that shows the total cost of credit annually Due Date: the date by which the minimum payment must be received every month, without incurring a late fee or other penalty Finance Charge: the cost of credit, including the interest paid by a customer for a consumer loan or credit. Minimum payment: on a credit card, a fixed percentage of the balance due which must be paid each month

Use to help you answer these questionswww.myfico.com 1.What is a FICO score? 2.How can FICO scores help you? 3. How can you wreck your credit score?

American Credit Card/Debt Statistics Average credit card debt per household with credit card debt: $15,956. Total U.S. revolving debt (98 percent of which is made up of credit card debt): $801 billion, as of December Total U.S. consumer debt: $2.5 trillion, as of December (credit cards, loans, mortgages, etc.) Average Credit Card APR of a card with a balance on it = 12.78% Federal Reserve Board of Boston