It will be a long winter for millions of Americans who won’t be able to head to the ski slopes or sunnier climes for a vacation. Some 33 million Americans, many of them millennials, are financially tapped out and will stay home this winter, according to a new WalletHub survey. New York Post reports:
“It should be no surprise that 33 million Americans say they can’t afford to travel this winter,” said WalletHub CEO Odysseas Papadimitriou. “Even though unemployment is near record lows and the stock market is near record highs, there are a lot of things weighing on consumers financially right now.”
Papadimitriou said many cardholders are “racking up credit card debt at a pace reminiscent of the run-up to the Great Recession” — a time when millions of cardholders, many suddenly unemployed, couldn’t pay their card bills.
And, he added, “Student debt clearly is a problem.”
Indeed, some hoping to travel this holiday season are still paying last year’s debts, according to another study, conducted by NerdWallet.“One in 12 Americans who put 2018 holiday travel expenses on a credit card are still paying for them,” said Kimberly Palmer, a personal finance expert with NerdWallet.
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