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Nov 23, 2004 -- Americans experiencing King Kong debt

You’ve probably heard Clark talk about the problems people are having with debt these days. Going back to the ‘80s, debt issues came up from time to time. But it wasn’t something Clark heard about a lot. Even when the country was in a recession about 0 or 12 years ago, he didn’t that many questions. But the volume of calls has intensified greatly over the past few years. The Christian Science Monitor recently reported on the topic, calling it, “King Kong Debt Meets Middle Class Life.” The average credit card debt is more than three times what it was in the early ‘90s. That is huge. If you go back just one generation, most people paid their credit card bills in full every month. Today, about 35 percent pay their cards in full and the rest are carrying balances. In addition, people are saving much less than they did a generation ago. The average a generation ago was about eight percent. Today, we’re saving less than two percent. On top of all that, bankruptcy filings have also ballooned. About 1.6 million families are filing for bankruptcy today, compared to 300,000 a generation ago. And, this has happened over time. It’s not like we just woke up one day and were in much more debt. So, Clark wants you to consider how you use and spend money. Cutting back on the plastics is the first order of business. You must stop using credit cards entirely if you want to get a handle on your debt.

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