Personal finance predictions for 2010

Experts predict the money changes in store for consumers

By Jay MacDonald

2010 Financial Predictions
	BEGIN THE COUNTDOWN
	10. Your spending
	9. Your credit card
	8. Your debit card
	7. Your rewards
	6. Your phone
	5. Your paycheck
	4. Your home
	3. Your mail
	2. Your ID
	1. Your kids

We bid goodbye -- and, frankly, good riddance -- to 2009.

During the past 12 months, three "R's" dominated the financial headlines: recession, reform and relief (as in unprecedented government bailouts).

America watched in disbelief as simultaneously our home values plummeted, defaults and foreclosures skyrocketed, financial institutions once thought "too big to fail" did, and our once-robust economy stalled, leaving one in 10 of us out of work.

Any one of these crises would prompt ample sleepless nights for the most steadfast among us. Together, they have radically altered the consumer credit landscape and ushered in a new frugality not seen in generations. 

Financially speaking, 2009 was scary. Tell-your-grandkids scary.

By all indications, 2010 will be a watershed year as the ramifications of recession, reform and bailout relief continue to shape the new consumer landscape.

One very large example: Congress harnessed public outrage to pass the largest-ever reform of the credit card industry, the Credit CARD Act of 2009. It prohibits such long-standing practices as double-cycle billing and retroactive interest rate hikes by credit card issuers.

How the card companies retool their products in 2010 to recoup the profits they will lose when the CARD Act's major provisions kick in Feb. 22 may affect the borrowing power of Americans for decades to come.

What's in the cards for 2010?

We asked a field of financial experts to play forward these 2009 game-changers and venture a few predictions for the new year in personal finance.

Here, in New Year's ball-dropping countdown style, are their predictions on how the next 12 months will change your financial life.

Let the financial countdown begin: 10: Your spending

See related: Frugality: Just a fad? Or will consumers keep saving post-recesssion?, Credit CARD Act of 2009

Published: December 31, 2009

	Three most recent Research, statistics stories: Rate survey: Credit card rates hit lowest levels in 5 months – Interest rates on new credit card fell to their lowest levels since August 2011 this week, according to the CreditCards.com Weekly Credit Card Rate Report ... Americans want more credit, but banks remain leery, Fed says – More Americans searched for credit in late 2011, according to the Federal Reserve, but most banks didn't make it any easier on them to get it -- whether they wanted a new card or just a bigger credit limit ... Rate survey: Credit card APRs unchanged for 2nd straight week – Interest rates on new credit card offers held steady for the second straight week, according to the CreditCards.com Weekly Credit Card Rate Report ...

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