Nick Wolney

And it's difficult for us, I think, to realize the total amount of interest and how much extra interest we would pay.

You know, credit cards didn't used to be as profitable as they are right now. And it also used to be that the minimum monthly payment was 5% of your balance. In the 1980s, some very smart mathematicians realized that if they made two tweaks to credit card culture, there'd be a lot more profit to be made.

You know, credit cards didn't used to be as profitable as they are right now. And it also used to be that the minimum monthly payment was 5% of your balance. In the 1980s, some very smart mathematicians realized that if they made two tweaks to credit card culture, there'd be a lot more profit to be made.

You know, credit cards didn't used to be as profitable as they are right now. And it also used to be that the minimum monthly payment was 5% of your balance. In the 1980s, some very smart mathematicians realized that if they made two tweaks to credit card culture, there'd be a lot more profit to be made.

And those two tweaks were to lower the minimum monthly payment from 5% to 2%, and then to increase people's credit limit. And so it makes the consumer feel good in the moment because rather than being almost maxed out on your credit card, if you have a much higher limit, you're not as maxed out. You've got a lot of wiggle room.

And those two tweaks were to lower the minimum monthly payment from 5% to 2%, and then to increase people's credit limit. And so it makes the consumer feel good in the moment because rather than being almost maxed out on your credit card, if you have a much higher limit, you're not as maxed out. You've got a lot of wiggle room.

And those two tweaks were to lower the minimum monthly payment from 5% to 2%, and then to increase people's credit limit. And so it makes the consumer feel good in the moment because rather than being almost maxed out on your credit card, if you have a much higher limit, you're not as maxed out. You've got a lot of wiggle room.

And then if your minimum monthly payment is less, then it's like, oh, this is not so bad. It's only 2% of my balance rather than 5% of my balance. What that all meant is that people were more likely to have higher balances.

And then if your minimum monthly payment is less, then it's like, oh, this is not so bad. It's only 2% of my balance rather than 5% of my balance. What that all meant is that people were more likely to have higher balances.

And then if your minimum monthly payment is less, then it's like, oh, this is not so bad. It's only 2% of my balance rather than 5% of my balance. What that all meant is that people were more likely to have higher balances.

Someone I spoke to last year as well talked about it. His name is Josue Henriquez, lives in San Francisco. And he talked about how when he emigrated to the US, he wanted to build his credit to eventually buy a house one day. And so he took out a credit card when he was 18 and he got a $500 limit, which does not exist anymore.

Someone I spoke to last year as well talked about it. His name is Josue Henriquez, lives in San Francisco. And he talked about how when he emigrated to the US, he wanted to build his credit to eventually buy a house one day. And so he took out a credit card when he was 18 and he got a $500 limit, which does not exist anymore.

Someone I spoke to last year as well talked about it. His name is Josue Henriquez, lives in San Francisco. And he talked about how when he emigrated to the US, he wanted to build his credit to eventually buy a house one day. And so he took out a credit card when he was 18 and he got a $500 limit, which does not exist anymore.

But over time, as his limit increased, as he got more credit card offers, fast forward 10 years, He's $25,000 in debt. He has to work with a debt consolidation company to pay it all down. Completely wrecks his credit score because of what's needed in order to work with those creditors and things like that. And then during COVID, he lost his job.

But over time, as his limit increased, as he got more credit card offers, fast forward 10 years, He's $25,000 in debt. He has to work with a debt consolidation company to pay it all down. Completely wrecks his credit score because of what's needed in order to work with those creditors and things like that. And then during COVID, he lost his job.

But over time, as his limit increased, as he got more credit card offers, fast forward 10 years, He's $25,000 in debt. He has to work with a debt consolidation company to pay it all down. Completely wrecks his credit score because of what's needed in order to work with those creditors and things like that. And then during COVID, he lost his job.

And so even though he had paid it all down, you know, after... seven or eight months, he was back to $20,000 in credit card debt just to make ends meet. And I think that him sharing that story with me just felt like something that is a paradigm for what a lot of people are experiencing with credit cards. You know, they're just trying to make ends meet. They're just trying to survive.

And so even though he had paid it all down, you know, after... seven or eight months, he was back to $20,000 in credit card debt just to make ends meet. And I think that him sharing that story with me just felt like something that is a paradigm for what a lot of people are experiencing with credit cards. You know, they're just trying to make ends meet. They're just trying to survive.

And so even though he had paid it all down, you know, after... seven or eight months, he was back to $20,000 in credit card debt just to make ends meet. And I think that him sharing that story with me just felt like something that is a paradigm for what a lot of people are experiencing with credit cards. You know, they're just trying to make ends meet. They're just trying to survive.

They're slowly trying to pay it down and pay a little bit extra every month or every other month. But because people have so little in savings, you know, you're one car problem away from being knocked all the way back to the beginning, so to speak.