The Bubble Is Bursting: Delinquency Rates Have Doubled And Credit Card Defaults Are Soaring

Did you know that U.S. households are carrying $1.18 trillion in credit card debt? Considering the fact that the average rate of interest on credit card balances is now over 20 percent, that is not good news at all. Sadly, most of the country is just barely scraping by from month to month in this very harsh economic environment, and turning to credit cards for some relief can be extremely tempting.

A thousand dollar credit card balance can turn into four or five thousand dollars in the blink of an eye, and once you get that deep into the hole it can be very difficult to ever dig yourself out. Of course if you end up losing your job or having a major medical emergency, that can be enough to push you completely over the edge financially. Today, that is happening to an alarming number of Americans. 

...Unfortunately, this crisis has continued to intensify in recent months. Delinquency rates have “hit the highest levels in more than a decade”, and this is especially true for younger borrowers. This is starting to become a big problem for our banks. In particular, small banks have been getting absolutely hammered by very high delinquency rates.

...Unfortunately, today the average U.S. household is carrying more than $6,000 in credit card debt…

--The average U.S. household has $6,120 in credit card debt--Total U.S. household credit card debt is currently at $1.18 trillion, making up 6% of all household debt--Washington, D.C., carries the highest level of credit card debt per capita at $5,360 on average, while Mississippi carries the lowest at $2,940 on average--Americans aged 65 to 74 have more credit card debt than any other age range, coming in at an average of $7,720 in debt.     (Read More)