Even richer people can have a lot of debt, according to the results of a survey released by Bankrate.com.
Individuals who identified themselves as having a net worth of between $100,000 and $199,999 per year were the category with the largest percentage of people who have credit card debt, according to the survey. Fifty-seven percent of people in that bracket have credit card debt, compared with 50% of those with a net worth between $200,000 and $499,999 per year, 48% for those with a net worth of between $1,000 and $49,999, and 47% for those between $50,000 and $499,999. Forty percent of those who said they have a negative net worth have credit card debt, according to the survey.
What are people using their credit cards for? Day-to-day expenses is the most common answer — for 28% of those who were surveyed. That was followed by retail purchases (16%), medical bills (11%), and car repairs (11%).
“People with more assets and higher incomes have more access to credit and some are getting into trouble with credit card debt,” said Ted Rossman, credit card analyst at Bankrate.com, in a published report. “A lot of them are finding that they don’t have as much money to spread around as one might think.”
Net worth can be a tricky financial category, because that includes assets like the value of a home.
Looking at credit card debt from a demographic perspective, members of Generation X are the most likely to have credit card debt, according to Bankrate. More than half of those between the ages of 39 and 54 have credit card debt, followed by Baby Boomers (46%), members of the Silent Generation (42%), and Millennials (37%). Members of Generation X are the most likely of all generations to carry some form of debt.
