Mortgage debt, medical debt, student loan debt — these are the kinds of debt that people are willing to talk about. These debts hit Tennesseans from almost every walk of life. But there is another and more common example — credit card debt. Yet a recent survey suggests that Americans are less likely to mention their credit card debt woes in casual conversation. Why?
In a survey done by CreditCards.com, roughly 85 percent of respondents said that talking about their credit card debt was highly unlikely in a conversation with a new acquaintance. Well, maybe that isn’t surprising, except that the other topics proposed in the survey — health issues, mortgage debt, people’s love lives, people’s income — were ranked as more likely to come up in casual discussion.
Even religion and politics were less taboo than credit card debt. About 60 percent of respondents said they were willing to talk to a stranger about religion, while about 50 percent of the respondents said that politics was a likely topic. But what about credit card debt? Only about 12 percent of those surveyed said that credit card debt was an issue that might be discussed with a stranger.
These findings are remarkable, given that the revolving debt total in America comes to roughly $848 billion. Most of that sum is credit card debt.
Owing large amounts of money to a credit card company is extremely stressful, and that is the reason most people don’t want to talk about their credit card debt. Pestering, badgering, harassing — these are the methods debt collectors use. People in Tennessee who are tired and fed up with their debt situations should be aware that debt relief options are available.
Source: cnbc.com, “To Politics and Religion, Add a Taboo on Credit Card Debt,” Allison Linn, April 25, 2013
