Today our focus is on Credit Cards, debt temptation devices.
A very large number of people now count credit card repayments as one of their most significant monthly expenses. It has become disturbingly normal for us to see couples with combined credit card debts totalling more than $20,000.
Despite the obvious dangers of credit cards, we do have some good news. Australians are gradually getting their credit card debts under control. When we wrote about credit cards four years ago our total C.C. debt was $37.7B, today it is $32B.
Here is a typical credit card stress problem that we recently encountered:
A couple with $28,000 worth of credit cards. The minimum monthly repayment on this credit card debt was $840. We proposed consolidating this credit card debt into a 7 year home loan and the repayments reduced by $447 to $393 per month. A huge cash flow relief.
People are usually quite private about their financial strains but if you do know of anyone that is struggling, please don’t hesitate to refer them through.
If there is a solution, we will find it.