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New York Post
19 minutes ago
- New York Post
Financial expert warns young Americans against ‘buy now, pay later' plans as shopping tactic growing in popularity
'Buy now, pay later' plans are rapidly growing in popularity among young Americans, but not everyone is convinced they're a smart financial choice. Haley Sacks, a personal finance influencer with over a million followers online, issued a chilling warning about BNPL plans on 'Fox & Friends' Tuesday, calling the practice 'predatory.' Advertisement 'My take is that you should not use 'buy now, pay later' at all,' Sacks said. 'If you need to finance something, use a credit card and a lot of credit card companies have 'pay over time' options with 0% interest.' Sacks argued credit cards offer important benefits BNPL plans don't, such as consumer protection and the opportunity to build credit. 'Buy now, pay later' services let buyers split purchases into multiple installments instead of paying the full price upfront. However, if users aren't careful to make payments on time, they may face late fees. Advertisement 3 'Buy now, pay later' plans are rapidly growing in popularity among young Americans, where buyers pay with multiple installments instead of the full price upfront. Bloomberg via Getty Images 3 Haley Sacks, a personal finance influencer with over a million followers online, warns against the practice, calling it 'predatory,' and saying that it doesn't offer benefits like consumer protection that credit cards do. fizkes – They're expected to hit record transaction volumes this year after initially being marketed as lower-risk alternatives to credit cards. But financial experts warn that reliance on these payment plans can lead to overspending and a rapid accumulation of debt if consumers aren't on top of them. A LendingTree survey from April found that more Americans are using BNPL services for everyday essentials like groceries, and that 40% of users admitted to missing a payment on at least one loan in the past year. Advertisement 3 Experts say the plans can lead to overspending and debt if consumers aren't on time with payments. Bloomberg via Getty Images Factors that could be leading to the shift are elevated prices, high interest rates, and student loan payments, which resumed less than two years ago after a stop during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sacks says these factors are part of why these types of deferred payment plans have resonated with a struggling generation of young people. Advertisement 'Gen Z is facing so much inflation, wages have not kept up, and this is a way to actually be able to get things that you want,' she said. 'But of course, then you're paying the price.' According to the LendingTree survey of 2,000 consumers aged 18 to 79, nearly half of American adults have used a BNPL service such as Klarna or Affirm. Millennials made up the largest share, but Gen Z and Gen X weren't far behind.
Bloomberg
2 hours ago
- Bloomberg
A Bitter Pill for Lab Firms as France Seeks to Cut Subsidies
Newsletter A report by a French agency is ringing alarm bells for investors and creditors who poured billions of euros into the medical labs sector. Welcome to The Brink. I'm Giulia Morpurgo, a reporter in London, where I have been looking into the headwinds that French private medical labs face. We also have the latest on bankrupt retailer Claire's, Altice Portugal's reorganization and Puerto Rico's bankruptcy. Follow this link to subscribe. Send us feedback and tips at debtnews@ It's an industry that's grown fat on public subsidies — and now the government is looking to pull them away. A report by a French agency is ringing alarm bells for investors and creditors who poured billions of euros into the medical labs sector.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
A Global Market Based on Gold Bars Shudders on Tariff Threat
(Bloomberg) -- The global gold market relies on a network of banks, refineries and couriers that can fly bullion between key trading hubs at a moment's notice in pursuit of the highest prices. On Friday, a shock US ruling suggesting that the metal would be subject to tariffs plunged that system into chaos. New York Warns of $34 Billion Budget Hole, Biggest Since 2009 Crisis All Hail the Humble Speed Hump Three Deaths Reported as NYC Legionnaires' Outbreak Spreads Mayor Asked to Explain $1.4 Billion of Wasted Johannesburg Funds A New Stage for the Theater That Gave America Shakespeare in the Park The apparent decision by the US Customs and Border Protection agency — announced privately in a letter to a Swiss refiner on July 31 and made public Friday — sent gold futures in New York soaring to a record, as insiders warned the tariffs would have dire consequences for the market. Then, just as quickly, prices tumbled after the Trump administration suggested imports of gold bars wouldn't face tariffs after all. It was the latest example of President Donald Trump's trade war triggering wild gyrations in markets, for equities, raw materials and finished products alike. Gold bullion is typically treated more as a financial instrument than a physical product, and slapping tariffs on it would have such profound consequences that many traders argued Friday the ruling had to be a mistake. 'The problem was that the government didn't look outside of the question of the physical format and did not take into consideration that this widget was actually gold,' said Robert Gottlieb, a former precious metals trader and managing director at JPMorgan Chase & Co. A complex and sometimes fragile system for making and moving gold bars underpins the global market for the metal, including the futures exchanges in New York and Shanghai as well as a huge over-the-counter market overseen by London banks. Key consumer hubs in Mumbai, Dubai and Hong Kong rely on it as well. There is more than $1.1 trillion in gold bars stored in vaults to underpin trading in New York and London alone, with much of it stored by major dealers including JPMorgan and HSBC Holdings Plc. Refineries in Switzerland play a crucial role in facilitating the flow of gold between London and New York. A trade group representing them said Friday that the apparent tariffs would render any future US shipments unviable. Asian refineries put a temporary halt on US-bound sales. At the epicenter of the turmoil in New York, observers warned that tariffs would pose a major threat to the gold futures market itself. 'The disbelief isn't just that several billion dollars have been made and lost overnight,' said Ross Norman, a four-decade veteran of the industry who now runs Metals Daily, a pricing and analysis website. 'The problem is we're not in a good position when things become disrupted. When things blow out, you get lots of injuries.' The dysfunction was immediately reflected in the spread between prices on CME Group Inc.'s Comex exchange in New York and the global benchmark price set in London. New York futures hit a new high above $3,530 an ounce on Friday, while the London market was more than $100 lower. That was a record gap, but the 3% spread would be nowhere close to covering the apparent cost of import levies, which would differ from country to country under Trump's reciprocal tariff regime. Typically, if New York prices rise sufficiently, the large-format bars that are traded in London are melted down in Switzerland and recast as smaller, 1-kilogram (2.2 pound) bars that are deliverable on Comex. But with Switzerland facing a 39% reciprocal tariff, Comex prices would have needed to rise to about $4,700 an ounce for the shipments to become feasible. To plug the gap, US buyers might have been able to turn to other key suppliers, including Canada and Mexico. But Trump has threatened stiff tariffs on those countries, too. Unlike gold miners, independent refineries survive on razor-thin margins. The Swiss trade group warned Friday that shutting them out of such a significant market would have adverse consequences for the global gold trade. The hope — similarly held among the investors, traders, banks, and logistics firms blindsided by the US ruling — was that the White House would step back from the brink. It may do just that: The administration intends to post an executive order clarifying what it called misinformation about the gold tariffs, according to an official. 'From day to day, we learn more about new rules that could dramatically change the landscape of each commodity,' said Darwei Kung, head of commodities and portfolio manager at DWS Group. 'Perhaps more change will result from the negotiation in the days to come.' --With assistance from Elise Harris. The Pizza Oven Startup With a Plan to Own Every Piece of the Pie Digital Nomads Are Transforming Medellín's Housing Russia's Secret War and the Plot to Kill a German CEO It's Only a Matter of Time Until Americans Pay for Trump's Tariffs The Game Starts at 8. The Robbery Starts at 8:01 ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sign in to access your portfolio
