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Americans going deeper in debt
Sacramento Bee ^
| 3/10/03
| Loretta Kalb
Posted on 03/10/2003 10:28:12 AM PST by hoosierskypilot
Edited on 04/12/2004 5:48:40 PM PDT by Jim Robinson.
[history]
Almost half of U.S. consumers are making only minimum payments -- or no payments at all -- on their credit cards, a new credit survey shows.
And a similarly large volume -- some 44 percent -- are continuing to take on debt because they don't have enough cash to pay ongoing expenses.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: consumerdebt; debt
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Add to that the inflationary prices people are currently paying for houses, and you have a balloon that's gonna maybe explode like a nuclear bomb.
To: hoosierskypilot
We need a tax increase to help these poor people!
2
posted on
03/10/2003 10:30:07 AM PST
by
El Sordo
To: hoosierskypilot
a large portion of the increase in debt was involuntary -- that 44 percent are going further into debt knowing in advance they won't be able to pay when the bills come inHave read this sentence twice, and still don't understand it.
3
posted on
03/10/2003 10:33:25 AM PST
by
NautiNurse
(Usama bin Laden has produced more tapes than Steely Dan)
To: hoosierskypilot
Debt is money-just ask the Fed.
If it's OK for the Fed, why isn't it OK for Ma and Pa?
4
posted on
03/10/2003 10:36:32 AM PST
by
Jim Noble
To: NautiNurse
Have read this sentence twice, and still don't understand it. Some credit card companies charge upwards of 20% interest. At higher levels, people who pay only a minimum payment aren't even going to offset the interest charge. They go deeper into debt without even using the credit card.
To: hoosierskypilot
MOST CARD HOLDERS PAY 26%
To: hoosierskypilot
If you know in advance that you won't be able to pay the bills when they arrive, then how is that involuntary? With all respect, this seems more like willful disregard. Credit card apps require signature agreeing to the terms.
7
posted on
03/10/2003 10:53:38 AM PST
by
NautiNurse
(Usama bin Laden has produced more tapes than Steely Dan)
To: NautiNurse
Well, yes, in that sense, of course, you're correct.
Interesting sidebar: Much of this accumulated debt they speak of relates to younger people. Credit card companies have long targeted college kids. The companies know the kids will not exercise self-control and max out quickly. The companies also know many of these kids will ruin their credit.
Why do the companies target these kids, then? Because Visa, et al, also knows that enough parents of the kids will foot the bill so as to make the marketing strategy successful. So what that it injures kids who don't know what they're getting into. It's only business. (In the minds of the companies, that it.)
To: allodialman
Of course, you can pay 0% if you take the radical course of not spending money you don't have. I know some people really do get a run of bad luck and have to go into debt, but I refuse to belive that applies to anywhere near the 44% mentioned in the article.
To: hoosierskypilot
"Think what you do when you run into debt;
you give another power over your liberty."
-- Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790)
"I am one of those who do not believe that a national debt is a national blessing, but rather a curse to a republic; inasmuch as it is calculated to raise around the administration a moneyed aristocracy dangerous to the liberties of the country." -- President Andrew Jackson - (1824)
10
posted on
03/10/2003 11:07:04 AM PST
by
Willie Green
(Go Pat Go!!!)
To: hoosierskypilot
Credit card companies have long targeted college kidsWith the blessings of the colleges, who share in the financial windfall with the credit card companies. The credit card companies set up their tables in the student unions offering credit cards with the university logo on it. What a racket.
11
posted on
03/10/2003 11:11:55 AM PST
by
NautiNurse
(Usama bin Laden has produced more tapes than Steely Dan)
To: NautiNurse
Yes, my alma mater has sent me numerous credit card offers w/the school logo. I was very disillusioned since it was, formerly, a distinguished school. Turns out it's all about money, after all.
To: hoosierskypilot
"In the Sacramento area we have a high lifestyle, and we don't adjust our lifestyle, even when one spouse loses a job or income goes down," she said"
By golly we gotta keep up with the Jones' don't we?
To: NautiNurse
Have read this sentence twice, and still don't understand it. "I simply cannot afford to increase the balance on my Visa card. Therefore, I AM going to purchase this big-screen TV because I simply must have it."
Sounds pretty voluntary to me.
14
posted on
03/10/2003 11:34:02 AM PST
by
Cable225
To: NautiNurse
"Involuntary debt" is just another word for *theft.*
To: Sam's Army
" By golly we gotta keep up with the Jones' don't we?"
There's even a technical term for it now: normative spending.
16
posted on
03/10/2003 1:45:35 PM PST
by
Tauzero
To: Tauzero
"normative spending"
Unreal.
I really think high schools would do well to have less emphasis on geometry and algebra and more on budgeting/consumer math.
But then again, ya can't teach common sense can ya?
To: hoosierskypilot
BUMP
To: hoosierskypilot
Long term unemployment is at record levels and rising. We could
be in for another depression.
19
posted on
03/10/2003 1:56:16 PM PST
by
BlackJack
(Is it War yet?)
To: NautiNurse
a large portion of the increase in debt was involuntary -- that 44 percent are going further into debt knowing in advance they won't be able to pay when the bills come in Simple, they realize that by making only minimum payments that the interest accrued is more than the minimum payment is worth ?
20
posted on
03/10/2003 2:11:45 PM PST
by
Centurion2000
(Take charge of your destiny, or someone else will)
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