Confession: I hate carrying and spending cash. Always have. I like the convenience of putting everything on one credit card, being able to have an instant record of my spending, and (of course) earning 1 percent cash back. I’m not prone to impulse purchases, and I’ve always paid my bill in full and on time. But Derek Thomas has a provocative article in The Atlantic on the downsides of our becoming a cashless society.
Thomas writes: “In the 1970s, fewer than 20 percent of the adult population owned a credit card. Today, between 70 and 80 percent of the adult population does.” So what? Thomas goes on to argue:
1. Credit Cards Are Making You Irresponsible
2. Credit Cards Are Making You Forgetful
3. Credit Cards Are Making You Fat
4. Credit Cards Exacerbate Income Inequality
Check it out. (HT: Rachel Cruze)
On a related note, I point out in Preparing Your Teens for College that credit card usage is down among college students. Only one in three students had one in 2012. But of those who did, two in three were carrying a balance rather than paying their monthly bill in full.