... will close a loophole to slash late fees charged by credit card companies from an average of $32 to $8, which the agency projects will save $220 annually for 45 million Americans.
Someone double check my math here. But I'm reading this statement to say that 45 million Americans are - on average - late on 10 credit card payments each year. That's probably not a good sign of a healthy economic outlook.
49% of Americans can’t afford a 1000$ emergency. I can see why you would use your credit card, try to pay it with your next paycheck, paycheck is late (because of course it is) then miss credit card payment.
Those are very thin margins that a lot of Americans deal with.
$220 / ($32 - $8) looks like a little over 9 to me also. Wow. That's a lot of people struggling, probably trying to stay afloat paying off cards with other cards and missing more payments.
Yeah I freak out if I accidentally pay a card late. I can't imagine the stress of missing that many payments a year. At some point, you're just in a hole and digging to get yourself out.
But, but, but all the news stations are saying the economy is the best it's ever been! That means there is no economic hardship right now, right? Right?