If you haven't seen Maxed Out, I strongly suggest it. I watched it again last night.
Here are some interesting items I pulled from that movie:
The average family has $9,000 in credit card debt.
The most popular customers that credit card companies go after are those who have recently filed bankruptcy for two reasons:
- They won't be filing bankruptcy anytime soon.
- They have the "taste" for credit, meaning they are willing to make minimum monthly payments forever - which makes the credit card companies filthy rich.
Debt buying is one of the fastest growing industries on Wall Street. For those who don't know the details, this is what the $700 billion bailout is all about.
Eliot Spitzer was interviewed for the movie, which cracked me up.
One of Bush's top campaign contributor was MBNA, the country's second largest credit card issuer.
Consumers are "surfing", which means they are using debt to pay off other debts. They are caught in a vicious, never-ending cycle.
And the horrible story of the two college students who committed suicide because they had gotten themselves into too much debt and could not see a way out. Both students were initially approached during their freshman year on campus and offered a free t-shirt, frisbee, whatever, just for filling out the paperwork. Please, please make sure your kids are knowledgeable!!
