The folks over at Clever put out a credit card debt report which is being reported by others in different ways.
Honestly, the results leave me perplexed. While 70% of people say they will not pay off their credit card debt within a year.
You also have 62% younger than 35 and 35+ has 48% who say they pay their balances off each month.
This discrepancy could be explained between aspirational responses and reality. But the part of the survey that really caught my eye was the question, “On average, do you think credit card interest rates are higher or lower than mortgage interest rates?”
Millennials have not mastered that question yet. But one explanation is student loans are holding them back from exploring more debt and things like a mortgage.
As the survey results said, “Interestingly, Millennials are the only generation that believes student loans are more stressful than credit card debt. They are twice as likely to say student loans are the most stressful type of debt than respondents ages 35 and up.”
The truth is the underlying issue with credit card debt is not the card. The credit card is the symptom of the underlying issue of not having an emergency fund or sufficient savings account and unconscious shopping.
It’s a bit like blaming the needle manufacture on a syringe for heroin abuse.
A lot of things can wind up on credit cards. Respondents said these were the likely culprits.
But I will admit, except for “job loss” I put all those expenses on a credit card and pay it off each month. Plus I get all the reward perks and points plus the added safety of not using a debit card.
It’s a topic Damon Day and I talked about on a recent podcast.
