|
In some ways it is, unless they are already living paycheck to paycheck and really don't have double their minimum payments available. I've read that the average person (maybe household) has $8000 in credit card debt. That would mean an increase in the minimum payments from $160 to $320 a month (2% to 4%). Some just don't have an extra $160 a month to do that. I would suspect that those who have that much extra a month don't have to use much credit. I realize they are trying to make sure people can actually pay it off sooner, but if they end up charging stuff like gas and groceries because they don't have cash available after their minimum payments, it will just sink them further.
The Democrat in me wondered if the new bankruptcy rule was to reduce the number of personal bankruptcies during Bush's term because, during his first term, they were at record numbers.
Personally, I think it would be more helpful to require credit card companies to limit the amount of credit available to reasonable amounts. As I paid off any card, they increased my limit, sometimes doubling it. At one point, I had over 150,000 in credit available to me! That's just insanity. And who doesn't get multiple credit card applications in the mail daily? They just keep dishing it out! I have a friend who had to declare bankruptcy last year because she was more than $60,000 in debt. She STILL gets credit card applications almost every day, all geared toward people who've declared bankruptcy with outrageous annual fees and interest rates. Maybe total credit limits should be limited to like 30% of your income or something.
Dee
|