Before I get into the topic, I must say I have been having terrible problems logging into this blog. I never have trouble logging into my other blog. I hope the login issues are not symbolic of my troubles with debt!
Liz Pulliam Weston, a money expert with MSN Money, recently wrote an article titled "The big lie about credit card debt." In the article, she states that a GFK Roper poll and Bankrate.com were inaccurate in saying that the average American is around $9,000 in debt and are in "debt denial." Not only that, but she says the majority of U.S. households have no credit card debt, using the Federal Reserve as her source.
Her reason for writing the article, she says, is to dispel the credit card myth, and more importantly to point out that the myth gives false comfort to those who think they are average for having credit card debt and "are charging down the road to financial ruin."
My point is, the average person may not have $9000+ in credit card debt, but how many people took out a loan, including a home equity loan, to pay off the credit card balances? I would say quite a few, probably.
At the same time, an article in Investors Business Daily, says there is a jump in credit card borrowing and there is trouble brewing. The article said that balances on cards rose 11 percent in May and June, and with two exceptions, it was the highest rate since the recession in 2001-2002.
I can understand Weston's not wanting people to feel secure in having so much credit card debt, but it seems like Americans are generally in debt, and what difference does it make what the source of the debt is?
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