By Hope Nelson-Pope, The Motley Fool

It can happen days, months, or years after getting your first credit card.

One day you look at the bill, and the minimum payment is almost out of reach. Years of purchases, enumerated monthly on sheets of paper, spell out what seems to be a lifetime of repayments and a small fortune in interest accrual. Maybe using those credit cards got you through college and you never broke the habit. Maybe you’ve got a sweet tooth for shopping. Or maybe, like so many people in this era, you and your family have fallen on hard times, and when the choice was between seeing your electricity cut off or putting the bill on credit, a little extra debt didn’t seem so bad.

However it happened, now you’re mired in debt and staring down a mountain of bills just as you’re trying to position yourself for retirement. It’s a horrifying situation, one you never expected to find yourself in, at least not now, when you should be dreaming about your upcoming golden years.

Take a deep breath. You’re not alone. And you can dig out.

Step 1: Know thy enemy.

Before you can do anything about your debt, you’ve got to know where your finances actually stand. Map out your current financial status, including all those ugly bits you’d just as soon not mention.

First, write out a detailed budget for your regular expenditures. Of course you’ll include the usual suspects — mortgage/rent, utilities, telephone, and groceries. But don’t forget to widen your budget to focus on other regular expenses.

Do you subscribe to Netflix (NFLX)? Pay a monthly fee for cable? How much are you spending on entertainment? Dining out? Shopping? What about those once-a-year expenses it’s so easy to forget, like insurance, new eyeglasses, car maintenance, or new school wardrobes for the kids? Figuring in all of these numbers will help you determine the true state of your finances.

But you can’t stop at a budget and call it a day. You need to map out the exact amount of debt you hold and itemize it based on its source. You’ve already plugged your cards’ minimum payments into your budget. But now, take it a step further and create a new chart listing the balance, interest rate, and minimum payments for each of your debts. Don’t forget to include student and auto loans, too!

Once you know what you’re dealing with on both sides of the financial coin, you can begin your quest to drive down your debt.

Remember: It’s not easy. But it is doable.

Step 2: Snowball like it’s December.

Now that you know the cold, hard facts of your financial situation, it’s time to get to work. You want to make your money work for you in an efficient manner — after all, with interest rates bearing down on your accounts, time is of the essence!

One word: snowball.

Now, in order to make good use of the snowball method, you’ve got to have the funds for your minimum payments well in hand. (If you don’t, then scroll on down to Step Three and I’ll meet you back up here when you’re finished.) The key to snowballing your debt is to pay the minimums each month on every debt, but then take an additional amount and apply it to one predetermined debt — let’s call it Debt A — until it dwindles down to nothing.

Once Debt A is gone, you take the money you were paying on it (minimum and extra together) and add it to what you were paying on Debt B until that debt is paid off. Lather, rinse, repeat until you’re debt-free.

If you’re looking for a quick win, select the debt with the lowest balance and work your way up. You’ll feel a sense of accomplishment sooner, which will help keep you on track toward your long-term goal.

But even though I’m a fan of the quick payoff, this snowball method isn’t my favorite. Find the debt with the biggest interest rate and get to work. It doesn’t just pay down your debt; it also saves you all the extra interest you would be paying, and a few extra percentage points can really add up.

So if I had three credit cards that looked like this:

Then I would arrange my snowball like this:

This way, no matter what the balances are, I’m paying down Card C quicker so I don’t have to sacrifice as much of my hard-earned money to interest alone. It takes diligence to pay in to a card that may not seem like the “quickest win,” but it’ll save you some cash in the long run.
Step three: Give your cash flow a nudge.

Use your current profession as a jumping-off point for additional work — if you’re a teacher by day, why not be a private tutor by night? Or set your alarm clock for the ripe old time of 3 a.m. and head out for a paper route (they’re not just for kids on bicycles anymore).

In short, sometimes the key to debt reduction is to give your cash flow a quick infusion. It’s often inconvenient, to be sure, but the payoff can be worth it.

Step 4: Invest in your future.

It may take months or even years, but if you consistently pay down your debt, you will eventually see the light at the end of the tunnel: financial freedom. It’s not a bad place to live. But your journey doesn’t end there.

Once you’re debt-free, your former snowball can help manifest those golden years you’ve been dreaming about. You can save that money in a savings or money market account. Create an emergency fund that will sustain you through life’s tough times (and life does bring with it some unexpected crises) so you won’t have to load up your credit cards with expenses you can’t afford to pay back. When you’ve got that under control, keep on saving — with an eye toward a long-term account to fund your retirement dreams.

If you’ve got a long-term time horizon, you might want to consider investments that bring a higher return. If you’re long on time but short on expertise, an index fund or ETF, such as the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index (VTSMX) or SPDR S&P 500 (SPY), may be a sensible choice. With one investment, you’ll access companies spanning the breadth of the S&P 500, including ExxonMobil (XOM), General Electric (GE), and Microsoft (MSFT).

The path from the red to the black side of the ledger can be long, but take heart. With some deft financial moves and a basket of patience, you can climb back out — and with money in your pockets, to boot.

Hope Nelson-Pope is online coordinating editor at The Motley Fool. She owns shares of Microsoft but none of the other companies mentioned in this article. The Motley Fool owns shares of Microsoft and has sold short shares of SPDR S&P 500. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Netflix and Microsoft, as well as creating a bull call spread position in Microsoft.

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You may know them as those annoying scraps of paper that litter your purse or flutter from your wallet at inopportune moments, but receipts for credit card transactions are actually worth paying attention to.

Here’s what you probably didn’t know about them, but should:

Receipts are more secure than you think … Unless a merchant made a big mistake, you won’t see your whole credit card number on a receipt. That’s because the federal Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act — an amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act that took effect in 2006 — legislated that for better financial security, only the last four or five digits of your card number can appear. That’s why you see something like XXX-XXXX-1234 instead. Your card expiration date can’t show either.

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Summary:

ClearOne Advantage executives caution consumers against falling back into the credit-debt cycle—a potentially tempting option in light of positive economic reports.

Baltimore, MD, January 13, 2011- Executives at ClearOne Advantage, a Maryland-based debt resolution company, encourage cautious optimism in response to recently reported positive economic signs.

The jobless rate fell to 8.5 percent, the lowest rate in nearly two years (since February 2009) according to the U.S. Department of Labor:

“Both the number of unemployed persons (13.1 million) and the unemployment rate (8.5 percent) continued to trend down in December. The unemployment rate has declined by 0.6 percentage point (sic) since August,” according to the most recent report.

Furthermore: “The data surpassed economists’ expectations and mark a six-month stretch in which the economy generated 100,000 jobs or more in each month. That hasn’t happened since April 2006,” reported MSNCB’s Bottomline.

But millions continue to struggle. For example, the unemployment rate does not include the underemployed—those who have some, perhaps part-time work, but cannot afford to meet all of their financial obligations. Those consumers often rely on credit cards to make ends meet. But ClearOne Advantage executives recommend paying off or resolving unsecured debt over the continued credit-debt cycle for long-term financial success.

“Relying on credit keeps consumers dependent on—literally indebted to—credit card companies,” said ClearOne Advantage CEO Tomas Gordon. “Debt settlement can be an effective way out of the debt cycle for certain consumers.”

Debt settlement is a process in which debt professionals attempt to negotiate their clients’ unsecured debts (e.g., credit card debt, medical debt) down to a more affordable amount, until a mutually agreeable amount is reached between the creditor and the consumer.

“Simply put, debt settlement is a way for consumers to resolve their overburdening debt, even though—through no fault of their own—they cannot afford to repay their debts in full,” said Gordon.

Debt resolution options like debt settlement, including consumer credit counseling and bankruptcy, are especially helpful at this point in the economic recovery. While some economic figures offer hope that the country is heading in the right direction, experts agree that recovery is slow at best.

“This is not the time to start depending on credit, a mistake many were forced to make when unemployment rates began to soar at the beginning of the recession,” said Gordon. “Instead, this is a great time to break the debt cycle and learn how to get free from credit card debt completely.  For those who are able, we encourage them to pay off their debt in full and live within their means going forward. For consumers struggling with larger amounts of debt, we ask that they give us a call to see if we can help.”

To learn more, visit ClearOneAdvantage.com. To read more debt settlement articles click here

ABOUT US:

ClearOne Advantage is a full-service debt settlement company providing settlements of credit cards and other unsecured debts. Our executive leadership team is comprised of financial industry professionals with expertise in many of the industries that provide consumer lending services, making ClearOne Advantage the obvious choice when looking to settle debt. To learn more about the products and services that make ClearOne Advantage an easy choice in debt settlement call 1-888-785-5376 or visit ClearOneAdvantage.com.    

RESOURSES:

BLS.gov

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

MSNBC.com

http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/06/10002777-hiring-gained-traction-in-december

CONTACT INFO:

ClearOne Advantage

1501 S. Clinton St. Ste. 320

Baltimore, MD 21224 

1-888-785-5376

CS@ClearOneAdvantage.com
www.ClearOneAdvantage.com

Summary:

Encouraged by a surge in the Consumer Confidence Index, ClearOne Advantage executives are cautiously optimistic for an improved economy in 2012, and are recommending that consumers begin 2012 with a financial budget in order to spend wisely and avoid additional credit card debt in the New Year.

Baltimore, MD, December 30, 2011- Executives at ClearOne Advantage, a Maryland-based debt resolution company, encouraged by an increase in the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI), are urging consumers to start the New Year on the right financial foot.

“As we head into the New Year, we can already see some encouraging signs,” said ClearOne Advantage Chief Operating Officer John Wrinn referring to the CCI, which rose much more than expected in December. Wrinn and other ClearOne Advantage executives are encouraged by this news, as well as holiday retail reports that indicate better-than-expected sales.

The CCI is issued by The Conference Board, an independent economic research organization. Their monthly Consumer Confident Survey is “a monthly report detailing consumer attitudes and buying intentions.” Simply put, the more confident consumers feel about the economy, the more likely they are to make purchases. According to an article by CNBC, “the surge builds on another big increase in November, when the index rose almost 15 points from the month before.”

This news comes in the wake of a holiday shopping season that surpassed expectation, according to the National Retail Federation, and—with returns and gift cards pulling consumers back into stores—is not yet over.

“While these positive indicators are certainly welcome news, consumers should be ready to spend money wisely in the New Year,” said Wrinn. To help their debt settlement clients and all consumers in the New Year, ClearOne Advantage is offering a few financial tips for starting 2012 off right:

• Prioritize 2012 goals: Instead of casually declaring New Year’s resolutions, write down one specific and realistic goal.
• Plan now for next year: With the holidays still fresh in mind, consumers should record all of their holiday spending, save receipts in a “Holidays 2011” envelope, and plan to set aside cash next year.
• Use gift cards before they expire: Consumer should avoid throwing gift cards in a drawer or waiting until stores begin imposing fees or reducing the value of the card. But once in the store, consumers should stick as close as possible to the gift card’s value.
• Budget: Tracking expenses can reveal exactly where money goes each month, which can also help consumers find ways to save more money by cutting unnecessary spending. Consumers should learn a few options for creating a budget, choose the best method for their family, and stick to it year round.
• Commit to using coupons consistently: Shoppers can save $5 to $15 per grocery trip, and possibly more with the grocery store’s loyalty savings card.
• Start filing taxes: Start collecting records now, find necessary forms on the IRS website and consider e-filing. When taxpayers e-file, they received their refunds faster (especially when using direct deposit) and confirmation that their forms were received. Plus taxpayers who find out they owe this year will have more time to plan for that payment.

“There are many ways that individuals can start the New Year with realistic financial goals,” said Wrinn. “At ClearOne Advantage, we aim to help individuals struggling with overwhelming debt get the help they deserve in 2012.”

Wrinn explained that while some economic indicators give people hope about the country’s economic improvements, many individuals will continue to feel financial pressure while unemployment rates remain high. Companies like ClearOne Advantage help consumers settle their unsecured debts, such as credit card debt and medical bills, at the time they need professional assistance.

To learn more visit ClearOneAdvantage.com.

ABOUT US:

ClearOne Advantage is a full-service debt settlement company providing settlements of credit cards and other unsecured debts. Our executive leadership team is comprised of financial industry professionals with expertise in many of the industries that provide consumer lending services, making ClearOne Advantage the obvious choice when looking to settle debt. To learn more about the products and services that make ClearOne Advantage an easy choice in debt settlement call 1-888-785-5376 or visit ClearOneAdvantage.com.

RESOURSES:

CNBC.com

http://www.cnbc.com/id/45795931

The Conference Board

http://www.conference-board.org/data/consumerconfidence.cfm

Consumer Reports Poll

ConsumerReports.org

National Retail Federation

http://www.nrf.com/modules.php?name=News&op=viewlive&sp_id=1278

CONTACT INFO:

ClearOne Advantage

1501 S. Clinton St. Ste. 320

Baltimore, MD 21224

1-888-785-5376

CS@ClearOneAdvantage.com www.ClearOneAdvantage.com

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ClearOne Advantage is advising consumers against charging holiday shopping to credit cards, especially when many stores—e.g., Kmart, Sears, Walmart, Best Buy—offer consumers layaway payment plans.

 Baltimore, MD, December 25, 2011 –(PR.com)– Executives at ClearOne Advantage, a Maryland-based debt resolution company, are encouraging holiday shoppers to avoid additional credit card debt and instead to use cash or sign up for layaway payment options available at large stores such as Walmart, Kmart, Sears, Best Buy, and other furniture and department stores.

While many credit card companies offer incentives for purchases, these offers rarely result in significant savings for consumers. Instead, ClearOne Advantage executives are urging consumers who cannot afford to pay cash for last-minute holiday purchases, to choose layaway over charging purchases to their credit cards.

“It’s easy to overspend spend on loved ones this time of year, sometimes despite financial realities,” said ClearOne Advantage Executive Vice President John Repetti. He emphasized that paying cash for holiday spending can not only help consumers spend less overall, but will let shoppers start the New Year with less credit card debt.

However, he acknowledged that many shoppers simply don’t have the upfront cash, which is why layaway payment plans are available. Layaway lets consumers spread payments over a series of weeks or months. Shoppers can lock in holiday sale prices, avoid additional credit card debt, avoid interest payments, and spend within their means on major holiday gifts.

“Most of the big stores let shoppers pay for major purchases over several weeks, which not only helps them avoid charging purchases, but also provides an opportunity to start the New Year with a monthly budget in place,” explained Repetti. “Plus consumers can avoid the inevitable interest payments that accompany charging holiday purchases.”

In addition to Kmart and Walmart, other large retail stores that offer layaway include Marshalls, T.J. Maxx, Burlington Coat Factory, Sears, Best Buy, and Toy “R” Us. As with all financial agreements, shoppers should understand the payment terms before signing up.

“It is easy to rack up debt—especially when more and more consumers are forced to depend on credit to meet monthly expenses,” said Repetti. “Exploring layaway options may help some people at precisely the time of year many tend to overspend.”

About Us:

ClearOne Advantage is a full-service debt settlement company providing settlements of credit cards and other unsecured debts. Our executive leadership team is comprised of financial industry professionals with expertise in many of the industries that provide consumer lending services, making ClearOne Advantage the obvious choice when looking to settle debt. To learn more about the products and services that make ClearOne Advantage an easy choice in debt settlement call 1-888-785-5376 or visit ClearOneAdvantage.com.

Spend or save? It was once a fairly straightforward question: You spent what you needed and saved the rest. But as mass consumption has become a dominant force in the U.S. economy, the tension between spending and saving has become far more acute.

After a grudging, three-year experiment with thrift, Americans now seem to be rediscovering retail therapy. Spending is up about 5 percent this year, a healthy rise considering that unemployment is high and the housing market remains depressed. But incomes have risen by less than spending, which suggests that people are saving less and turning once again to credit cards to fund purchases when they don’t have the cash. For some shoppers, renewed spending power may even be coming from defaulting on past loans, which eases the crush of debt and frees cash.

A sustained boost in spending is just what the economy needs to get out of the doldrums. But if it brings with it a return to bad financial habits, then the economy could end up worse off overall. Many consumers still have too much debt, and millions of homeowners have lower net worth than they did a few years ago, due to punishing declines in home values. Plus, a lot of baby boomers are unprepared for retirement, which means they’ll need to build up their nest eggs in a hurry. Spending too much now could leave a big hole later, cutting into spending indefinitely.

In the aftermath of a grueling recession, spending habits are changing in ways that economists and marketers are eager to understand. With money more scarce than it used to be, some changes are fairly predictable, such as the substitution of store brands for costlier designer brands. Other changes may be more subtle. And on some things, Americans may be trying out new ways of handling their money, only to settle back into familiar patterns.

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by Patrick Lunsford – insideARM.com – December 16, 2011

The average charge-off and delinquency rates among five of the largest U.S. credit card issuers was unchanged in November, according to documents filed Thursday with the SEC.

There was a little movement individually in the performance reports of the master credit card trusts of Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi, and Discover. But the small changes cancelled out and the averages among the banks remained unchanged in November compared to October.

The average credit card net chargeoff rate among the five was 4.51 percent, down from 8.08 percent a year ago.

Meanwhile, the average delinquency rate among credit cards was 3.14 percent, also unchanged from October, but down from 4.53 percent in November 2010.

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posted by Bob Lawless

On a year-over-year basis, the U.S. bankruptcy filing rate dropped for the 13th consecutive month in November. According to statistics from Epiq Systems, Inc., the November daily bankruptcy filing rate was 4,923, a decline of 12.5% from one year ago. November marks the first time that the daily bankruptcy filing rate has dropped below 5,000 since January 2009.

Although the past seven months have seen double-digit year-over-year drops, these drops have consistently stayed between 10-17%. In other words, there is no increase in the rate of decrease. Extrapolating from this trend, we simply would expect to see about 10-17% fewer filings over the coming year than in the past year. Whether this trend continues, however, will depend principally on the ups and downs of the consumer credit market (not unemployment or foreclosure rates as conventional wisdom holds). In the next few weeks, I plan to be do my annual and slighlty more formal analysis of how these variables might interact and come up with a projection for 2012 U.S. bankruptcy filings.The chart to the right shows the daily bankruptcy filing rate since 2004. (Clicking on the chart should open up a bigger version in a pop-up window.) The red line running across the middle of the chart is the daily filing rate in 2004, which allows for comparison between current filing rates and the filing rates prior to the 2005 changes in the bankruptcy law. The figures are population adjusted (using November 2011 as the base rate) such that the chart shows the daily bankruptcy filing rate after controlling for population growth. In 2004, the U.S. had 5.44 bankruptcy petitions per 1,000 persons. For the past twelve months, we have averaged 4.46 bankruptcy petitions per 1,000 persons. After accounting for the fact that the U.S. is almost 7% bigger now than it was in 2004, the per capita bankruptcy filing rate has dropped by 23%.

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By ANNAMARIA ANDRIOTIS

For customers angry about rising debit card fees, banks are promoting an alternative that, they say, is just as convenient, but with lower fees and better rewards. They call it a “credit card.”

Until recently, debit cards have been popular among consumers, offering convenience without the risk of going into debt and, often, generous rewards programs. But as banks have cut back on debit card rewards and, recently, started imposing fees, credit cards have begun to look attractive by comparison. Several banks have actually sweetened their credit card rewards programs; Discover will eliminate charges for cardholders traveling abroad as of Nov. 6. And interest rates are low: The average fell to 12.28% in August, the lowest it’s been since February, 2009, according to the most recent data from the Federal Reserve.

At least one bank seems to be encouraging its customers to make the switch from debit to credit. Last month, Bank of America announced that it was discontinuing the rewards program on its Merrill Lynch debit card, which is used by its brokerage clients. Those cardholders have until May to redeem their rewards — or they can transfer their rewards to the Merrill Visa Signature credit card. A Bank of America spokeswoman says the bank isn’t steering clients to credit cards but only offering them the alternative.

Debit vs. Credit: The Plastic War Heats Up

4:24

For customers angry about rising debit card fees, banks are promoting an alternative that, they say, is just as convenient, but with lower fees and better rewards. They call it a “credit card.” AnnaMaria has details on Lunch Break.

It’s part of an overall push by banks to attract new credit card customers, says Bill Hardekopf, chief executive at LowCards.com, which tracks credit card offers. After taking losses on credit cards during and after the recession, banks are once again seeing potential in credit cards. Just 3.5% of cardholders are a month or more behind on their payments, the lowest level since 1994, according to CardHub.com, a credit card comparison site. And banks are writing off about 5.6% of credit card debt that they don’t expect will be repaid, compared to 11% a year ago. At the same time, banks now receive less money when customers pay with debit cards, while credit card revenues remain unchanged.

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TransUnion released its annual forecasts today on consumer credit, which indicate that national mortgage loan delinquencies (the ratio of borrowers 60 or more days past due) will decline to about 5% by the end of 2012 from just under 6% at the conclusion of 2011. After six consecutive quarterly declines between Q4 2009 and Q2 2011, 60-day mortgage delinquencies are expected to rise through Q1 2012, peaking at 6.02%. TransUnion forecasts mortgage delinquencies, a statistic generally considered a precursor to foreclosure, to decline for the last three quarters of 2012.

“Although house prices and unemployment will likely face continued pressure next year, this forecast calls for gradual improvements in the second half of 2012 to other key variables, like improving credit quality of new originations, consumer confidence and GDP, that will positively influence homeowners’ ability and willingness to pay their mortgages,” said Tim Martin, group vice president of U.S. housing in TransUnion’s financial services business unit. “If things go as expected, there are no additional negative shocks to the U.S. economy and the average borrower’s situation, mortgage delinquencies could fall as much as 16% in 2012 compared to 2011.”

The expected mortgage delinquency decline in 2012 would follow recent yearly trends, including an expected 7% decrease by the end of this year and a 7% reduction in 2010. This is in contrast to more than 50% year-over-year increases between 2006 and 2009.

TransUnion is projecting 2012 declines in mortgage delinquencies for 38 states with the largest percentage declines expected in Arizona (-46.25%), Wisconsin (-45.52%) and Colorado (-40.34%). Twelve states and the District of Columbia are expected to see increases.

Credit Cards

Credit card delinquency rates (the ratio of bankcard borrowers 90 days or more delinquent on one or more of their credit cards) reached their lowest levels in 17 years during the second quarter of 2011 (0.60%) and TransUnion expects them to remain relatively low in 2012, decreasing approximately 7% from 0.74% in Q4 2011 to 0.69% in Q4 2012.

“Credit card delinquencies are expected to remain fairly steady in 2012 ranging between 0.69% and 0.76% — levels far below those typically observed in the last 15 years,” said Steve Chaouki, group vice president in TransUnion’s financial services business unit. “In today’s uncertain economy, consumers have found that credit cards are among their most valued assets due to the flexibility they provide. As a result, consumers have made a concerted effort to make on-time payments and maintain relatively low balances. In fact, credit card debt per borrower in the third quarter of 2011 stood at $4,762, approximately $1,000 less than the second quarter of 2009, the quarter in which the recession ended.”

Thirty-nine states and the District of Columbia are projected to see credit card delinquency declines in 2012 with only 11 experiencing increases. States expected to see the largest credit card delinquency declines in 2012 include Delaware (-30.74%), Oklahoma (-23.74%) and California (-22.97%). The largest increases are expected in Connecticut (14.87%), Missouri (12.46%) and Louisiana (10.11%).

TransUnion’s forecasts are based on various economic assumptions, such as gross state product, consumer sentiment, unemployment rates and real estate values. The forecasts would change if there are unanticipated shocks to the global economy affecting recovery in the housing market, or if home prices fall more than expected.

The most current mortgage and credit card delinquency data for the nation and every state can be found at www.transunion.com/trenddata.

TransUnion’s Trend Data database TransUnion’s Trend Data is a one-of-a-kind database consisting of 27 million anonymous consumer records randomly sampled every quarter from TransUnion’s national consumer credit database. Each record contains more than 200 credit variables that illustrate consumer credit usage and performance. Since 1992, TransUnion has been aggregating this information at the county, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), state and national levels. For the purpose of this analysis, the term “credit card” refers to those issued by banks.

As a global leader in information and risk management, TransUnion creates advantages for millions of people around the world by gathering, analyzing and delivering information. For businesses, TransUnion helps improve efficiency, manage risk, reduce costs and increase revenue by delivering high quality data, and integrating advanced analytics and enhanced decision-making capabilities. For consumers, TransUnion provides the tools, resources and education to help manage their credit health and achieve their financial goals. Through these and other efforts, TransUnion is working to build stronger economies worldwide. Founded in 1968 and headquartered in Chicago, TransUnion reaches businesses and consumers in 23 countries around the world.

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