Credit-card defaults on rise in US Published: August 27 2007 19:02 | Last updated: August 27 2007 19:02 US consumers are defaulting on credit-card payments at a significantly higher rate than last year, raising the prospect of problems in the stricken US subprime mortgage market spreading to other types of consumer debt. Credit-card companies were forced to write off 4.58 per cent of payments as uncollectable in the first half of 2007, almost 30 per cent higher year-on-year. Late payments also rose, and the quarterly payment rate â a measure of cardholdersâ willingness and ability to repay their debt â fell for the first time in more than four years... ...Recent increases in credit card losses can in part be ascribed to a steady rise in personal bankruptcy filings since 2005. According to the Administrative Office of the US Courts, quarterly non-business bankruptcy filings have been rising since the first quarter of 2006. Scott Hoyt, economist at Moodyâs Economy.com said: âConsumer credit quality will continue to deteriorate as debt burdens and financial obligations rise, house prices continue to fall, credit standards are tightened, labour markets loosen modestly, and gasoline and other energy prices remain high.â http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b6e7caf4-5...0779fd2ac.html Credit cards are an inconvenient - you spend twice as much time buying an item. You buy it in the store with credit card and you sign it at the checkout. Then you pay it again with a check to the credit card companies at each month. With cash, you buy it once and its all over. No worries about messing with extra paperwork later on at end of each month. Use your time wisely! Save time and paper and stamps. And you don't have to worry about ID theft, which is a serious problem.
I recommend the credit card default strategy for beefing up retirement accounts for everybody. Run up the cards then retire.. not a problem, well the phone rings a couple times a day and people try to get a rise out of you but hey... I think this is one readily available strategy in the struggle of the individual to keep ahead of the Federal debt problem commensurate with the obvious fact that old folks are going to get tossed out of the lifeboat when Social Security goes broke.. Regarding the convenience factor, if you want to run around with lots of cash on you go for it. Where I live it might be a lot more fun to hand the robbers some cards and say "go for it, I'll report in a couple of days, and oh, I nearly forgot "have a nice day and wheres the party?"