Today’s top news headlines feature Americans’ growing anxiety of their personal debt and advice from professionals about tackling large balances. Plus, find out what the most common consumer complaints were in 2010.

Companies Plan To Raise Salaries Of Best Employees CNN Money A recent study reveals 97 percent of companies polled plan to increase the salaries of their workers next year. However, the largest salary hikes will be reserved for top-performing employees, which make up only 8 percent of the labor force. While average workers may see an increase of 3.1 percent, salary hikes for above average employees may rise by as much as 4.8 percent.

Household Debt Weighs On The Minds Of Americans The Associated Press A new Associated Press-GfK poll shows one in five adults stresses about debt all or most of the time, constituting a 17 percent increase in debt-related anxiety since November 2010. To

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With unemployment high and retirement savings low, hundreds of thousands of people over 50 are turning to college programs to boost their job skills. But given the rising costs of tuition, is it worth the money?

Drawn by a growing number of college programs targeted at boomers and spurred by the lousy job market, the number of students ages 50 to 64 increased 17% between fall 2007 and fall 2009, according to the latest data available from the National Center for Education Statistics. And colleges have welcomed them with programs specifically designed for older students: In 2008, the American Association of Community Colleges launched its “Plus 50 Initiative” on 15 campuses and has since expanded to 21. And individual schools, including University of California schools in Los Angeles and Riverside, have recently launched boomer-specific programs.

This growth reflects the dismal economy, and in particular, its disproportionate impact on older workers.

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The Asian markets are mostly green tonight, with the Hang Seng up 0.75%.

From CNBC: Pre-Market Data and Bloomberg futures: the S&P 500 is off about 4 points, and Dow futures are off about 25 points.

Tuesday …

9:00 AM: S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index for May. Although this is the May report, it is really a 3 month average of March, April and May. The consensus is for flat prices in May, however I expect prices to increase NSA.

10:00 AM: New Home Sales for June. The consensus is for a slight increase in sales to 321 thousand Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) in June from 319 thousand in May.

10:00 AM: Richmond Fed Survey of Manufacturing Activity for July. The consensus is for the index to be at 4, up from 3 in June (above zero is expansion).

Texas factory activity expanded in July, according to business executives responding to the Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey. The production index, a key measure of state manufacturing conditions, rose from 5.6 to 10.8, suggesting output growth picked up this month.

The new orders index rose sharply from 6.4 in June to 16 in July. … Labor market indicators reflected more hiring and longer workweeks. The employment index came in at 12.1, up from 5.3 in June. Twenty-two percent of manufacturers reported hiring new workers, the highest share this year. The hours worked index rose from 1.5 to 7.9. There are two more regional manufacturing surveys that will be released this week (Richmond and Kansas City), and those surveys will probably show a slight improvement too.

If you are having bad credit score and you need a home repair loan then you can take out a bad credit home repair loan. This loan is available for bad credit rating customers. For most refinancing options or mortgages, consumers are required to carry a good credit score to qualify for beneficial terms.

Risks Associated with poor Credit Rating

Poor credit rating creates many problems for borrowers. Poor financial record indicates that the borrower has not been responsible towards his/her finances. It indicates that the borrower has made late payments, skipped their payment, filed for bankruptcy and defaulted etc. All these things lead to loan application rejection or in other cases higher interest rates along with other restrictions.

Lending Institutions Offering Home Repair Loans

There are various lending institutions and lenders that are willing to work with borrowers holding poor credit rating. These lending institutions and lenders are offering a variety of loans for bad credit borrowers.

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If you want to get your higher monthly payments of existing mortgage lowered then consider refinancing your mortgage. Mortgage refinancing is probably the first idea that comes to majority of mortgage holders when it comes to cut down large monthly payments. Regardless of the benefit of getting lower interest rate to cut down large monthly payment, decision of refinancing your mortgage can be critical. This is due to the difficult point of the selection of an appropriate lender and program from many lenders and programs. At this point, customers must make sure that they have researched properly about available lenders and programs.

Why to Refinance your Mortgage?

Mortgage refinancing is a wise option, especially in the case when it becomes necessary and when individual can make most of this option. Individuals must take their debts seriously; otherwise they may face serious financial problems.

Importance of Debt Consolidation

Debt consolidation is a credible reason that justifies one’s search of home refinancing.  

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