Boston Bankruptcy Lawyer

Credit Card Debt

It was noted that in a survey of American households, 90% thought that they held average or below average levels of credit card debt. Ninety percent and ‘average’ simply do not mix which lead many surveys to believe that Americans were simply in denial about their credit card debt. A more likely explanation is that there was some faulty math in the survey.

The survey that reported the 90% calculated its average credit card debt number by dividing the total amount of outstanding revolving debt by the number of households with credit cards. The total amount of outstanding debt included business and consumer debts as well as balances that were days away from being paid off. The amount they determined for average debt came to $9,300 per household.

While this sounds scary, the majority of U.S. households have no credit card debt. This is according to the Federal Reserve’s most recent Survey of Consumer Finances. Of American households, roughly a quarter do not have a single credit card and another 30% pay off their balances on a monthly balances.

This leaves 45%, or so, of the population with some credit card debt. Of these households, the median balance was $2,200. This means that half of the 45% owed more than $2,200 while half owed less than $2,200. This same survey determined that less than 10% of households owe more than $9,000 on their credit cards.

The things to learn from this are that not everything that is reported is accurate. Companies have agendas when they release surveys. Before believing a survey and panicking, it is important to consider the source and determine how accurate or inaccurate it is.

Contact a Boston Bankruptcy Lawyer

If your credit card debts have gotten out of hand due to an illness, injury, or other family disaster, contact the Boston bankruptcy lawyer of Joshua Spirn & Associates at 1-800-975-5346.