Blacknbengal
Well-Known Member
The big lie about credit card debt
You may have been shocked by a report that $9,000 in card debt is 'average' for U.S. households -- or taken comfort that so many people were in the same boat. But there's a catch: It's not true.
Some people lie about their debts, and some people are in denial.
But when a survey says 90% of Americans are either liars or in denial about how much they owe on credit cards, you can bet it's the surveyors who are the delusional ones.
In June, CreditCards.com released a GfK Roper poll that purported to detail Americans' relationships with credit cards. The survey contained plenty of interesting tidbits, but the poll takers went aground when they tried asking how the respondents' credit card debts compared to the national average. Here's a quote from the release:
"By some estimates, the average American household has over $9,300 in credit card debt. Yet, despite Americans' concern about their spending habits, few people are willing to own up to their balances: over 90 percent of survey respondents believe they had the same amount (as) or less debt (than) the average American. This makes a revealing statement about America's complex relationship with credit cards."
Rest of Story
You may have been shocked by a report that $9,000 in card debt is 'average' for U.S. households -- or taken comfort that so many people were in the same boat. But there's a catch: It's not true.
Some people lie about their debts, and some people are in denial.
But when a survey says 90% of Americans are either liars or in denial about how much they owe on credit cards, you can bet it's the surveyors who are the delusional ones.
In June, CreditCards.com released a GfK Roper poll that purported to detail Americans' relationships with credit cards. The survey contained plenty of interesting tidbits, but the poll takers went aground when they tried asking how the respondents' credit card debts compared to the national average. Here's a quote from the release:
"By some estimates, the average American household has over $9,300 in credit card debt. Yet, despite Americans' concern about their spending habits, few people are willing to own up to their balances: over 90 percent of survey respondents believe they had the same amount (as) or less debt (than) the average American. This makes a revealing statement about America's complex relationship with credit cards."
Rest of Story