40-year-old homeowner says economy doesn’t add up: ‘I’m making the most money I’ve ever made, and I’m still living paycheck to paycheck’
fortune.com
“There's this wild disconnect between what people are experiencing and what economists are experiencing,” says Nikki Cimino, a recruiter in Denver.
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Holy crap! She was "saving up" to buy a condo instead of using that money to pay off the credit cards? That's absolutely insane. I really feel like society would benefit immensely if there were mandatory financial literacy courses every 4 years, or at least before any major purchases (house, car, etc).
Or just common sense laws against predatory lending by capping interest rates.
Most people don't have a safety net and live paycheck to paycheck.
A huge expense comes up, and rather than get a bank loan at even 8-10%, it goes on a credit card
Companies have a tiny "minimum payment" because they don't want you to pay it off. They want that balance to grow while people ignore it. They don't want it back now, they want thousands more later.
I'm all for interest caps but if the highest they could charge was say 9% they'd just deny credit to tons of people, not give them lower interest debt. I'm okay with that though.
Pretty sure every cc has the minimum payment higher than the interest. If you just stop buying shit you'll pay it off eventually, even if you can only afford the minimum payment. The balance can't grow unless you're still buying shit.
Also she was apparently planning on low interest rates, but when the rates went up she shrugged and didn't adjust her plans. It's kind of hard feeling sympathy for her. If she'd been hit with an unexpected but unavoidable expense that would be a different matter.
Have you seen the movie Maxed Out? That was pretty eye opening for me.