Consumer Debt Levels – Moar! Moar! Moar!

 

moar

No, the above is not a typo.  According to urbandictionary.com “moar” is a combination of more and roar.  We thought it to be the best fitting headline when it comes to addressing the Canadian consumer’s apparently insatiable appetite for debt.

Debt is technically a noun, but to simple laymen like us here at Case, has debt not also become more of an action along with being a thing?  Can we then assume that debt can also now qualify to be a verb?  If so what does that make “moar”; an adjective describes a noun (a thing), but if debt is an action (a verb), does that make it and adverb?  Perhaps there is a reader of our post out there with an English major that can weigh in with a comment on this.

Our conclusion to all of this; not only do record debt levels threaten our financial stability but debt also appears to have become a threat to good grammar and the English language!

The total amount of credit market debt — which includes mortgages, non-mortgage loans and consumer credit — held by Canadian households hit a record high in the third quarter (July – Sept 2014), climbing to 162.6 per cent of disposable income from a revised 161.5 per cent in the second quarter.

Should you be experiencing negative changes in the payment behavior of your customers CASE can help! As a collection agency with offices in Edmonton, Calgary and the GTA we can apply our best professional efforts in order to make your past due accounts receivable a top priority.

That means Canadians owed about $1.63 for every dollar of disposable income, according to the latest figures from Statistics Canada.

The previous record for household debt was set a year ago, in the third quarter of 2013, when the total amount of debt held by Canadians equaled 161.7 per cent of disposable income

Canadian households borrowed $27.4 billion in the quarter, primarily for mortgages, Statistics Canada said. In total, the country’s household debt burden ticked up 1.5 per cent to $1.805 trillion — a gain roughly on par with the gain in the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, household net worth climbed 1.3 per cent in the quarter, after a 2.2 per cent increase the previous quarter. On a per capita basis, household net worth was $232,200.

According to many economists a sustained period of low interest rates has allowed Canadians to rack up record levels of debt which, along with tumbling oil prices, pose a threat to the country’s financial stability (not to mention the English language).