Is Consumer Stupidity Incurable?
September 21, 2011 by Mr. ToughMoneyLove
Filed under Fools of Finance
I saw this headline and had to comment: Banks continue to rake in huge amounts in overdraft fees.
Wait – it gets worse when you read the specifics: Banks and credit unions received $30.8 billion in overdraft fees in just the first 6 months of 2011.
That’s $30.8 BILLION!
How can people complain about government excess when they are wasting so much of their own money writing bad checks? Will nothing cure them of personal finance stupidity?
I suppose that some of these folks have surrendered their credit cards (or had them taken away) and feel good that they aren’t using them.
Instead, they now write checks (or make ATM withdrawals) against insufficient funds as a way to obtain “credit.”
This is one of the worst forms of ”stupid tax.” Part of it is fee gouging by the banks, of course. But lack of personal accountability is the primary cause.
The feds will try to intervene but anything short of forcing the banks to close the accounts of serial overdrafters is doomed to failure.
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Very true.