Institute of Consumer Financial Education

Credit card debt hit $800 Billion this year ... SOURCE: CBSNews.com/Associated Press Half of Americans say they worry about their overall level of debt, and about 2 in 10 say they stay worried most or all the time. These results came out of an AP poll. Those debts can come from home and car loans as well as credit cards - even more so with holiday buying sprees. 3/4 of those polled have credit cards. Most people who have credit cards say they work to keep control of them, but 1 in 6 don't trust themselves. Young adults and those who make less than $25,000 a year were most likely to doubt their own ability to manage credit cards. Total revolving credit debt in the U.S. was just over $600 Billion five years ago and is almost $800 Billion now, according to the Federal Reserve. In the survey, about 10% of those with credit cards said they have missed making their minimum payment during the past 6 months. _________________________ But bankruptcy filings are down ... Bankruptcy cases filed for the 12 month period ending September 30, 2004 dropped 2.6% from the same time period in 2003. 1,618,987 case were filed, down from 1,661,996. (Bankruptcies first broke the 1 million mark for a 12 month period June 30, 1996.) Business bankruptcies also dropped 3.8% from 36,183 in 2003 to 34,817 in 2004.