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| Helping debtors get their spending under control | ||||||||
| 2006-01-09 | ||||||||
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Americans are swimming in red ink. For those carrying a credit card balance, the average debt has soared over the last 15 years--from $2,900 in 1990 to $9,200 in 2004. Americans are also withdrawing equity from their homes with a vengeance. According to data from the Federal Reserve, home equity loans totaled $100 billion in July, 1997. By 2002, that figure had doubled to $200 billion--and it now stands at $381 billion. April Benson, a New York clinician, has built a practice around these new realities. She offers both individual therapy and group programs for clients who have let their spending habits get out of control. And while her office is in Manhattan, she maintains that the epidemic of over-spending is nationwide, rampant in small towns and urban centers alike. "There are people on welfare with spending problems," she notes. "Money is an equal opportunity, all-purpose mood changer." It starts when you're young, Benson suggests--when the first credit card arrives. "The figures for adolescents are staggering, but I really believe for them it's a transient phenomenon." Up to 40% of teens and college students may be compulsive buyers, she thinks, but the figure drops to about 10% in the adult population. More ... | ||||||||
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