Credit Card Debt
- This is a preview of the essay.
To view the full text you must login!
The use of credit cards has become more common over the past twenty years. Just about everyone over the age of eighteen seems to have a credit card of some type and they rack up debt without giving thought to the ramifications of what is really transgressing. People know they are committing themselves to making periodic payments in exchange for goods or services they receive right now; however, most don't consider how much that item they just purchased is really costing them over a period of time. While most people are responsible with credit cards and managing their debt, a large percentage of them do not really consider how much they are hurting their spending potential over a lifetime of earnings.
A lifetime of earnings can be expressed by using the average yearly salary and multiplying that times the average number of years people work before retiring. According to the most recent census information, the average annual income for a household is $43,016 in 2002 dollars before taxes (1). The average amount of years worked by an individual is approximately 37 years. This means the earning potential for a household is approximately $1,591,618. This is not accounting for other factors such as inflation rates, race, gender, geographic location or education level.
The average credit card debt carried from month to month per household is approximately $8,940...