Tag Archives: credit card debt

The pension nightmare that is at the heart of the horrific financial crisis in Detroit is just the tip of the iceberg of the coming retirement crisis that will shake America to the core. As a society, we have made trillions of dollars of financial promises to the Baby Boomers, and there is no way that we are going to be able to keep those promises. The money simply is not there.

Appearances are all that seem to matter in our society today. Dying in debt will be common place in the coming years. Fully 21% of Americans say they don’t think they will be able to pay off their debts — including their car, credit cards, student loans and mortgages — in their lifetime. Our debt addict society is dying of an overdose.

It's impossible to pinpoint when and where the next crisis will spring from but, looking at the actual U.S. consumer debt data today, it's not likely that consumer debt will be the trigger point of the next major capital market meltdown...

According to the just-released latest quarterly household debt and credit report by the NY Fed, Americans' debt rose to a new record high in the fourth quarter on the back of an increase in virtually every form of debt: from mortgage, to auto, student and credit card debt (although HELOCs posted a tiny decline). With interest rates on household credit rapidly rising, and with no savings to fall back on, this is a recipe for disaster.

The first rule of personal finance is never carry a credit card balance. It’s another one of those simple to understand yet difficult to execute money management concepts for a large swath of the population.

Your credit card bills may not be keeping you up at night yet, but if you analyze your financial situation, you may find that you are closer to the edge than you think. Here are 5 warning signs that you have way too much debt:

The final effort in the debt-fueled “recovery” of the U.S. economy from the Great Recession - the increase in consumer credit card debt - is seen by Equifax as that of "American consumers...getting on with their lives.” Yes, indeed, their lives as debt slaves!

What is the best way to reduce debt? The most-efficient means is probably the snowball method. There are two main variations of the snowball method, but you must consider your personality to determine which of the two is right for you. [Let me explain.] Words: 1251

Over the past three months, the year-over-year growth in credit card debt has exceeded wage growth in the United States. This is the first time we've seen this trend since the Great Recession.

Anyone that thinks that the U.S. economy can keep going along like this is absolutely crazy. We are in the terminal phase of an unprecedented debt spiral which has allowed us to live far, far beyond our means for the last several decades. Unfortunately, all debt spirals eventually end, and they usually do so in a very disorderly manner.