80% of Australians sinking in debt

[CriticalSilver]

Four out of five Australians are worried about their ability to meet future debt repayments, a survey shows.

The biannual survey by data intelligence company Veda, found 82 per cent were worried about their ability to meet debt repayments in the future, up from 75 per cent a year ago.

The results come as fears grow of a global economic downturn on the back of Europe's sovereign debt crisis.

Advertisement: Story continues below The survey also found that one in five Australians was struggling to repay their current credit commitments.

However, about 29 per cent of this sub group were considering applying for more credit in the next six months, the survey found.

"It is concerning that there are people struggling with their current debt levels but are turning to more credit as the answer, potentially edging closer to a debt spiral," Veda senior adviser Matthew Strassbourg said in a statement.

The survey found people aged 25-34 were the most worried about their ability to repay debt and the most likely to borrow more in the next six months.

About 70 per cent of this age group had received help from a family member to repay debts compared to about 35 per cent for the rest of the population.



Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/money/borrowing/most-australians-worried-about-debt-20111219-1p1v4.html

 

[Dwayne]

And yet 29% of the people who are already having trouble with debt repayments are planning on getting into yet more debt anyway. WTF.

 

[lamp]

Credit cards are products of the devil. I limit myself to have one credit card with limit only $2k just for paying bills and unexpected event, and ensure to clear it monthly, but once in a while I would blow out spending to treat myself.

People really need to have a strong mine to have a CC. One of my friends cut off all credit cards that are sent to her sons, think that is the way to go

 

[fishball]

Credit cards are products of the devil. I limit myself to have one credit card with limit only $2k just for paying bills and unexpected event, and ensure to clear it monthly, but once in a while I would blow out spending to treat myself.

People really need to have a strong mine to have a CC. One of my friends cut off all credit cards that are sent to her sons, think that is the way to go

Self control is the key, I have 3 CCs and make them work for me

 

[Big A.D.]

And yet 29% of the people who are already having trouble with debt repayments are planning on getting into yet more debt anyway. WTF.

The article makes it sound that way, but I wonder how many of those people are

applying for more credit

so they can refinance their credit card debt onto a "0% interest on balance transfer for the first x months" deal with a new card.

Technically, that would count as "more credit" because you have to apply for a new card before you can dump your current one. As soon as you dump the current card, you're back to the same amount of credit you had before except then you're not paying any interest on the old debt.

 

[fishball]

And yet 29% of the people who are already having trouble with debt repayments are planning on getting into yet more debt anyway. WTF.

The article makes it sound that way, but I wonder how many of those people are

applying for more credit

so they can refinance their credit card debt onto a "0% interest on balance transfer for the first x months" deal with a new card.

Technically, that would count as "more credit" because you have to apply for a new card before you can dump your current one. As soon as you dump the current card, you're back to the same amount of credit you had before except then you're not paying any interest on the old debt.

I know a guy on here who did/does this. Bought a LOT of proof dragons from AP/PM, flipped them for profit and rolled over the debt for 0% @ 6 or 12 months.

Profit.

When it's 0% there's also no point paying it back in a hurry

 

[hawkeye]

I lived briefly with a girl who had a mortgage when I was in the UK. She didn't like working much. Solution: get a new credit card every few months and use that to pay the mortgage. Banks and credit card companies were only too willing.

 

[Byron]

And yet 29% of the people who are already having trouble with debt repayments are planning on getting into yet more debt anyway. WTF.

The article makes it sound that way, but I wonder how many of those people are

applying for more credit

so they can refinance their credit card debt onto a "0% interest on balance transfer for the first x months" deal with a new card.

Technically, that would count as "more credit" because you have to apply for a new card before you can dump your current one. As soon as you dump the current card, you're back to the same amount of credit you had before except then you're not paying any interest on the old debt.

I know a guy on here who did/does this. Bought a LOT of proof dragons from AP/PM, flipped them for profit and rolled over the debt for 0% @ 6 or 12 months.

Profit.

When it's 0% there's also no point paying it back in a hurry

In a similar vein, i knew a solicitor of dubious character (took out an unsecured loan and then never repaid it), that owned about 30 credit cards and constantly shuffled money from one to pay the other.

 

[wallynut]

What I did last year was get three CC's and balanced transfer around $30K (total of all three) to another CC which I then transfer to my offset account. Ranging from 0% to 1.5% interest for 6 months. Then paid off in full when nearing term.

 

[lamp]

I know a guy on here who did/does this. Bought a LOT of proof dragons from AP/PM, flipped them for profit and rolled over the debt for 0% @ 6 or 12 months.

Profit.

When it's 0% there's also no point paying it back in a hurry

I wish I'm as smart and gutsy as this guy. That's probably the reason I'm not rich

 

[Byron]

What I did last year was get three CC's and balanced transfer around $30K (total of all three) to another CC which I then transfer to my offset account. Ranging from 0% to 1.5% interest for 6 months. Then paid off in full when nearing term.

That's not a bad idea. Paying 1% instead of 6% on $30K of your loan for 6 months. But you can only do that once with each card, right?

Trick is to find credit cards that:
a) Give you a 0-1% rate for 6 months.
b) Do not treat cash withdrawals/transfers differentlu and charge the full 18% rate.

 

[Dwayne]

And yet 29% of the people who are already having trouble with debt repayments are planning on getting into yet more debt anyway. WTF.

The article makes it sound that way, but I wonder how many of those people are

applying for more credit

so they can refinance their credit card debt onto a "0% interest on balance transfer for the first x months" deal with a new card.

Technically, that would count as "more credit" because you have to apply for a new card before you can dump your current one. As soon as you dump the current card, you're back to the same amount of credit you had before except then you're not paying any interest on the old debt.

No doubt some of them fall into that category - however most people I know are too apathetic to do that kind of thing.

I also suspect that some people who refinance like that eventually just end up maxing their original credit card out again anyway - except that now they have twice as much debt as they did originally!

 

[jackbrown]

Four out of five Australians are worried about their ability to meet future debt repayments, a survey shows.

And so they should be, idiots! Only an idiot would rack up thousands or tens of thousands of dollars in debt to buy things they could well do without. Now racking up an unsecured debt to a foreign bank and defaulting on it's another matter

 

[Nugget]

What I did last year was get three CC's and balanced transfer around $30K (total of all three) to another CC which I then transfer to my offset account. Ranging from 0% to 1.5% interest for 6 months. Then paid off in full when nearing term.

That's not a bad idea. Paying 1% instead of 6% on $30K of your loan for 6 months. But you can only do that once with each card, right?

Trick is to find credit cards that:
a) Give you a 0-1% rate for 6 months.
b) Do not treat cash withdrawals/transfers differentlu and charge the full 18% rate.

I believe that doing this damages your credit rating. Can't provide links or sources, just what I've been reliably told. That's why I don't do it. That and I have poor self control but I acknowledge it and act accordingly

 

[fishball]

What I did last year was get three CC's and balanced transfer around $30K (total of all three) to another CC which I then transfer to my offset account. Ranging from 0% to 1.5% interest for 6 months. Then paid off in full when nearing term.

That's not a bad idea. Paying 1% instead of 6% on $30K of your loan for 6 months. But you can only do that once with each card, right?

Trick is to find credit cards that:
a) Give you a 0-1% rate for 6 months.
b) Do not treat cash withdrawals/transfers differentlu and charge the full 18% rate.

I believe that doing this damages your credit rating. Can't provide links or sources, just what I've been reliably told. That's why I don't do it. That and I have poor self control but I acknowledge it and act accordingly

No such thing as 'credit rating' in Australia.

You do however get flagged if you default, keep asking for credit or be late in payments. Having no credit records at all is also not ideal.

Basically eventually you will hit the wall and nobody will give you anymore credit and if you're out of dough then you're done for.

Smart people play the system short-mid term, idiots play the long term and burn themselves.

 

[jparrie]

No such thing as 'credit rating' in Australia.

What's this referring to then? http://www.privacy.gov.au/faq/individuals/q17

 

[boneyard]

Sad but true...........
I am told to lodge folks with overdue library books with a collection agency.

You would be surprised how many declare backruptcy to get out of paying.

You may also be surprised to find out how many cough up the payment when they find they can not get ANY loan because they have a debt due to not returning overdue library items.

You would also be AMAMZED to know that there is NO SIGNED CONTRACT between both parties that is legally binding. Overdue person has NO CONTRACT with collection agency.

Collection agency has a contract with the company lodging the debt.

Comments????

 

[spannermonkey]

Sad but true...........
I am told to lodge folks with overdue library books with a credit agency.

You would be surprised how many declare backruptcy to get out of paying.

You may also be surprised to find out how many cough up the payment when they find they can not get a loan because they have a debt due to not returning overdue library items.
You would also be AMAZED to know that there is NO SIGNED CONTRACT between both parties that is legally binding. Overdue person has NO CONTRACT with collection agency.

Collection agency has a contract with the company lodging the debt.

Comments????

Cheers
I'll try that the next time uncle doodoo call me up $

 

[fishball]

No such thing as 'credit rating' in Australia.

What's this referring to then? http://www.privacy.gov.au/faq/individuals/q17

That's a credit report, a listing of all your credit applications and other things.

Credit rating is something Americans use in USA and a few other countries which is not used in Australia.

This explains it better than me: http://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/1768.htm

Individuals in Australia do not have a formal credit rating. However, information about your borrowing and credit history is collected by a number of agencies. These agencies are called credit reporting agencies.

 

[jnkmbx]

*gets paid interest instead*