The world is in love with credit cards. – Warren Buffet
I’ve heard it so many times before.
Your favorite sports team is coming to town. You have wanted to go see them play live for years, but you don’t want the nosebleed seats. You want to be close to where the action is.
So close that you can almost touch your favorite player and shake their hands or pat them on the back while their names are announced as they come out of the tunnel.
This year you have decided to treat yourself and will go see your team play.
However, tickets aren’t cheap.
After reviewing information on ESPN.com, you will see that watching James Harden dunk on LeBron James comes at a hefty price.
The average ticket in the NBA now costs $51.02, according to the Team Marketing Report, which monitors the business of sports leagues. Add charges for food, drinks and parking, and that cost rises to $72.53 per person.
And if you want to sit front row, the range for a courtside seat in the NBA is generally anywhere from $300-$20,000 just from a quick price check on Ticketmaster.
See my post How buying Super Bowl tickets could cost you $2 million dollars
Since almost everything in America costs more than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 that millions of low-wage workers are earning; Americans are turning to plastic to fund clothing, doctor fees, college, medical bills, furniture, cars, excursions, and jewelry. You name it, then folks are dropping down their American Express to make a purchase faster than The Rock can put out another film!
The problem with that is pretty obvious. You don’t have the money to go to the game so you put it on plastic instead. This can have serious consequences down the line. If you are unable to pay off the balance, now you have to pay interest on this purchase.
With the average credit card interest rate hovering around 18 percent, you could end up paying double or triple the cost of this little excursion to go see the LA Lakers play at Staples Center over the next several years!
In the book American Plastic, the author stated she saw consumers going into debt to pay for cosmetic surgery, which could cost you $7,000 for one procedure. Putting many Americans further behind in their wealth building.
The book Credit Card Nation by economist Robert D. Manning, published in 2000, provides a comprehensive overview of a social and economic crisis going on in America-escalating dependence on credit. The deregulation of financial services in 1980 paved the wave for Americans to become dependent on credit cards.
According to CNBC and USA Today, the average credit card debt in Americans held is approximately $6,200. And Alaska topped the 50 United States with the most credit card debt at $8,026. This is also the state that gives all its residents annual checks from its rich oil supply. Just something to chew on right there.
Meanwhile, the average credit card debt is now becoming a major wealth killer. Those households with it and more likely to have lower 401(k) balances, less in savings and investments, and less home equity.
Billionaire investor Warren Buffet says you should avoid using credit cards like a piggybank; it doesn’t work because a piggybank is filled with cash and credit cards are not cash. Credit cards funnel all your cash that should be used for wealth building into the banks coffers. Banks are now making a billion dollars a month thanks to easy credit access!
The credit card love affair usually ends in trail of past due bills.
Once the minimum payment (usually a paltry one percent of the balance) becomes unmanageable, you can get into serious trouble. Instead of making minimum payments are paying interest, you should be earning it instead in Mr. Market.
The one percent you are paying could be going to your retirement accounts or toward the down-payment of a home. How important is once percent really? It is enough that if you subtract that amount from the expense ratio of a mutual fund, then that one percent difference can be enough to fund 10 years of retirement. Very important in my book.
Forget credit card debt. Go max out that 401(k) at $19,500 annually and/or a Roth IRA at $6,000 per year and $7,000 if you are 50 and over.
This will of course take discipline, but so what. If you are willing to fork over $10,000 for season tickets to see the San Francisco 49’s play, why can’t you put away $100 a month for your future?
Maxing out a 401(k) over 20 years with a 9 percent return would net you 1,087,408.34. Don’t let credit card debt take this away.
Just my 2 cents.