Some may well say that it all depends on what side of the fence – or the counter of the bank or desk in the car dealership you are on. That is true however even if you are a borrower debt can be a good thing for your financial health and growth.
Over the past 25 years the amount of debt the average American or Canadian owes has risen amazingly. The mindset if have now, Why wait for spring? Have that car or large house now. This is a very different mindset than our parents were raised on. Their attitude often was “pay cash” and “if you cannot afford it, don't buy it”. Our parents were more often than not raised themselves by parents who had lived during the “great depression” of the 1930's where almost everyone had nothing , no job, no money , no employment and certainly no money to pay off loans. Hence easy credit was not available nor part of their lifestyle. An economic historian R. Z. Strokon has noted that the best education that many young people could have today is to “learn to wash floors”.
