Households racking up debt, all because incomes are failing to keep pace!

[S2007S]

$16,000 worth of credit card debt balances, whewwww. No worries....the more debt consumers get into the higher the stock market rises....this should not be a concern at all....but I Can just imagine what their interest rates must be like trying to pay back that sum of money...seems like incomes are not keeping up with inflation. Families probably living outside their budget and just consuming as typical American consumers do....I guess with the unemployment rate sooo low some can get second and third jobs to pay down this debt.....no worries...as long as the Dow notches new historical highs every single day there is not a worry in the world....


US households now have over $16,000 in credit card debt



American families are taking on increasing amounts of debt as incomes fail to keep pace.

Indebted households today have credit card balances averaging $16,061 — just shy of 2008's high, according to a new NerdWallet report, based on data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Census Bureau.

And total household debt, including mortgages, has ballooned to $132,529, up from $88,063 in 2002, when NerdWallet started tracking the data. While household income has grown by 28 percent in the past 13 years, it lags the the cost of living, which increased 30 percent during the period.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/13/us-households-now-have-over-16k-in-credit-card-debt.html

 

[Scataphagos]

Average interest rates on Cash Back cards are currently ~21%.

That's ~$280/mo in interest charges... for which the card holder receives NOTHING... not even a tax deduction.

How stupid can people be?

 

[Martinghoul]

The title of the article is misleading...

If you read the original NerdWallet report, it actually talks about $16k of balances only for households which have credit card debt. The average debt across all households is actually $8k.

 

[cdcaveman]

Inflationary monetary policy simply dilutes one class at the benefit of another class at a overall net negative to the entire equation... It's a fact that income of wage earning individuals and fix rate retirees get hammered over time .. they pay higher prices before their wage income goes up

 

[southall]

US households now have over $16,000 in credit card debt

It that all?? 16K was a lot back say 20 years ago, these days it isnt much.

 

[Scataphagos]

16K was a lot back say 20 years ago, these days it isnt much.

I'm betting it seems like a lot to those carrying such balances.

 

[S2007S]

It that all?? 16K was a lot back say 20 years ago, these days it isnt much.

$16,000 isn't a lot?

Ha

Put yourself in $16000 worth of credit card debt with an interest rate at about 15% and see how long paying just the minimum payment would take to pay and how much interest you would have paid out. .

Also as your credit card debt balloons so does the minimum payment... So a minimum payment on $16000 would be approximately $500+ a month!!

If someone is putting that much debt on their credit card to me it seems they don't have a monthly income to pay for goods and services they desire.....

 

[jj90]

You all assume they are going to pay the debt back.

 

[S2007S]

You all assume they are going to pay the debt back.

We all know most end up going to collection agencies where the consumer ends up paying about 15 cents on the dollar.... Rinse and repeat...

 

[Scataphagos]

We all know most end up going to collection agencies where the consumer ends up paying about 15 cents on the dollar.... Rinse and repeat...

Well then, southall is right... "16K ain't much".

The minimum payment for most CCs today is at least 2% of the balance. That's $320+/mo. Who would want to keep paying that??