That is just credit card debt; it does not include mortgages, car loans, student loans, personal lines of credit, personal loans or other big-ticket debt items. When you factor in all debts, the average family carries a much more startling burden, with an estimated 78% of total income going to pay off debt. [2]

Still, credit card debt is often the most vicious sort of debt, with high interest rates, compound interest calculations and revolving credit. Most credit card consumers keep on acquiring debt even as they make payments. The matter of compound interest means that an individual who makes only minimum payments on an average credit card with an average interest rate (currently between 17% - 21% annually) ends up doubling their debt every 4 years! [3] It is inconceivably hard to "get ahead" of credit card debt. It is incredibly easy to fall into the cycle of "buy now pay later" credit card convenience.

With this in mind, one has to wonder what has prompted the big credit card companies to create "secure" credit cards for teens. Is it not bad enough that so many adults struggle with credit card debt, do we need to acclimate the next generation to the misleading ease of the pay-with-plastic system? Are credit cards for teens an idea whose time has come, or a way for greedy corporations to tap into a lucrative and yet, financially unburdened, demographic?

Credit cards for teens are "secure", which means that they work more like a bank account with overdraft protection than a credit card. A "secure credit card" is really just a bankcard that is accepted like a credit card. When you use a "secure" credit card it is pretty much the same thing as writing a check only the amount that you "charge" comes out of the account immediately. You aren't so much acquiring debt as acquiring convenience.

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