A 16.92% Guaranteed Return!?

Here’s a slap that stings a lot of people.

If I could show you how to earn 16.92% on your money and make it a guaranteed return – not a “maybe” or an “if” return, but a guaranteed return – you and I both know I couldn’t make doors wide enough to get everyone in.

This is beginning to sound like a sales gimmick, I know, but it isn’t. Stay with me.

The sad truth is that the average person older than 65 carries more than twice as much credit card debt as Social Security’s highest payout at full retirement age. That’s $6,351 in high-cost credit card debt and $2,687 from Social Security.

If we throw into the mix the fact that the average Social Security check is around $1,400 per month, this creates a whole new level to the retirement nightmare that is on our doorsteps.

The latest survey of credit card companies reports that the average interest rate on that debt is 16.92%. That’s the average, not the worst-case scenario for folks with credit issues or bad credit.

“But,” you say, “wait a minute. It can’t be that much money, not real money.”

Well, the total debt carried month to month on cards is $700 billion – $700 billion at 16.92%… do the math!

Almost 40% of households carry credit card debt month to month.

And most have been carrying this debt for decades.

Eliminating your credit card debt is an instant, guaranteed return of 16.92% per year on that money.

And while most folks worry about not carrying a mortgage into retirement, in all likelihood, a mortgage is a significantly lower cost than your credit cards. The tax benefit lowers the cost of that debt by as much as one-third.

Getting rid of that 16.92% annual cost has to be your first priority. Then work to wean yourself off “too easy to use” credit cards, and either get back to dealing in cash or paying off the card every month.

More than twice the highest full retirement monthly check, $700 billion on the books and almost 17% per year are going out the window.

Come on, folks. We can do a lot better than this.

Good investing,

Steve