Why_Americans_Should_Not_Have_Credit_Cards

Why most Americans should not have credit cards Christopher Croke Com/172 May 31, 2011 University of Phoenix Why most Americans should not have credit cards Most people will argue that having credit cards are necessity, believing that without credit cards they could not live without them, that in fact they would not know how to get by without them. Now that might be true because they have never had to worry as of yet for the credit to be pushed the max, when going and opening a new account for some breathing room is no longer a viable option. Ladies and gentlemen this is where the fun ends and reality kicks into high gear, where words like bankruptcy, repossession, and default become words being thrown at you just as fast. Let’s take this back to a more of a peaceful time when being an eighteen year old seemed to be a time of endless possibilities ans needing a way to finance this new venture out in a quickly changing world of plastic. This is a time where I believe we all remember how it all happened,( some sooner, some later) that first credit card came in, before the thoughts of do I even have a job is sometimes overlooked( as it was in my case ha ha) the credit limit seemed to disappear like magic trick. But that’s not half as bad of course of getting your first bill and relizing there is two options in your future, ask your parents or oh no getting a job! Now that you now get the swing of things or so you think all these deals, great money saving credit cards, lower APR, points towards vacations, Which you have had a job or a month or two, so of course you need a vacation too! Now om a serious note, there is going to be some serious money being spent before you relize how not ready you were not. Now if you didn’t get hooked like I did above, you avoided your first pothole of life, but be sure there are always more to follow. The college years are another example of freedom with credit cards gone wild, credit card companies cannot seem to give enough cards away to students on campus. Why would you give college students credit cards' Well let’s see, if it is not bad enough to run around to classes, buying books, food, clothes and party materials would it be so much easier to put it on a credit card' Yes it would, of course safer than cash, one bill and while in school, good ole mom and dad will help with the costs of getting a great education. What students believe is when graduation time comes it will be an easy transition from college to top paying job, which is not the case, another example of when things go bad to worse. Now credit cards have already made a fortune off interest rates alone, it will not hurt them one bit to throw late payments over limit fees and penalties, but hopefully some hope in the future since they took those personal finance classes and taught to get out of debt. Okay, so you might be thinking now I am picking on teenagers and young adults only, time to prove that theory wrong. Adults might older and wiser, and might be highly educated or high school dropouts it does not matter when it comes to credit card debt. Yes, even adults suffer from the need to have now, pay later attitude or using credit for financing a life style the used to afford, or even just wanting to have and could not from the beginning. It also could have been an emergency situation where it was the sole purpose and could have gone bad for many reasons. Now being an adult and have had the experience of one or all of the above myself, I will say none of these situations are easy to deal with and takes years to get under control and doesn’t mean it can’t happen to you or again. So if any of these examples above did not give you the impression that credit cards are not dangerous, that anybody cannot lose, young or old, then I have a lot of work to do learning how to write a persuasive paper and you will have a lot to learn about the dangers of credit cards. Now keep in mind that I am in no way bashing credit. Credit itself is the way of buying a house , car or a major consumer purchase , without credit it would be harder to buy such things that are really necessary to have in life. Credit cards have destroyed a lot of lives, made some really hard , I got to the point that if the money is not there, it is not a need to have either at the time or at all. Living without credit cards has been such a blessing really, if you get to a point in life where material things are not as important as living a life you can afford and not beyond your means than you are living your life. Not buying into credit cards is the better way to go , but without the knowledge of the dangers of credit cards and credit cards constantly looking for ways to hook you there looks like more educational researchers are needed to show people the dangers.