The trend of decreasing card balances may be in part due to a lack of high-interest investment options, as households look for a place to put extra money amid a strengthening economy, according to Bill Hampel, chief economist and policy officer for Credit Union National Association.  

Republicans and Democrats in the Senate have armed themselves for the 2016 elections with votes on dozens of amendments to the GOP budget. "You and I could write the commercial today," former House Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle (R-Iowa) said of the amendments. "Senator X voted against children and voted against senior citizens in granting them their Medicare benefits. He voted to completely kill Medicare as we know it today," said Nussle, now president of the Credit Union National Association.

Susan Tiffany with the Credit Union National Association advises that folks consider the actual cost of potential financial setbacks. She recommends a series of stress tests that can give you an idea of just how much some of your most-feared events can cost you including gas costs soaring, employers no longer matching 401(k) contributions and losing overtime.

Wage growth continued to be modest, with average hourly earnings up seven cents from the previous month and up 2.1 percent from last year. In addition, job growth for January and February was revised downward by a combined 69,000 positions. "The economy is hitting some speed bumps," said Perc Pineda, a senior economist at Credit Union National Association.