No, not the dismal confidence numbers released today. I'm referring to some numbers I found in the Daily Reckoning.
But, keeping up with the Joneses can get rather expensive. The average consumer household in the U.S., according CNNMoney, carries $8940 in overall credit-card debt, holds 16.7 cards and owes $1363 per card. Likewise, the average homeowner owes $90,000 on his home by way of mortgages and an additional $30,000 in equity loans. The average vehicle loan is now in excess of $20,000...
I'm new to the Daily Reckoning, so for all I know, maybe they make this stuff up. Adding to my distrust was the fact that the CNN article was not linked. I thought that 16.7 cards had to be a mistake. If it's a mistake though, it's CNN's mistake as I looked up (and archived) the article myself. People really *are* in debt up to their eyeballs. How do they manage the bills for 16 credit accounts!!! Amazing.
The whole article is a real eye-opener. I knew things were tough out there, but I had no idea just how tough. Generally, I see broad, all U.S. numbers for stuff like this. Rarely, do I see numbers on a per consumer basis. These are really alarming, and they certainly explain the lack of confidence.
16.4 cards per household seems shockingly high. How many people are in a household? The statistics should be per adult wage earner. This probably includes multiple cards on the same account. Perhaps it includes those debit cards the banks want to give you instead of an ATM card. (Debit cards are a rotten deal, especially if they fall in to the wrong hands)
The article says that the total average household balance is $8940. At 15% APR (a guess at the average) that’s about $111 lost monthly out of the family budget. Factor that lost $111 into your investments that you are saving for retirement. You can either have compound interest working for you or against you.
"And many households have far more than one credit card. The average total is a whopping 16.7 – typically that's six bank cards, eight retail cards, and two or three debit cards"
I just finished reading the article.