British Columbians more worried about their rising debt levels: study

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – British Columbians are becoming more worried about their finances.

The survey says 44 per cent of us are concerned about our level of personal debt.

Judy Scott is with MNP LTD. She had a surprising reaction to the increasing amount of people worried about their debt level.

“We’re actually a little bit relieved to see people responding that way.” And there is a reason for that. “We’ve seen debt levels growing significantly in the environment that we’ve had in BC for the last many months of low-interest rates.”

A new survey says 47 per cent say they are 200 dollars or less away from not being able to pay their bills each month.

“$200 is not a lot of money and as soon as something unexpected comes up it’s going to put a lot of pressure and stress on those individuals.”

She says there are a few reasons why people are jumping further into debt.

“Many over have extended themselves, jumping into the hot housing market, worrying prices would continue to rise if they didn’t. Others feel like they had a lot of equity built up in their homes so they can spend more and use credit to finance their lifestyles. Now the sudden cooling of the market and looking ahead to the possibility of interest rate hikes puts many in potentially disastrous financial situations,” explains Scott.

The survey says 43 per cent of people now regret the amount of debt they’ve taken on.

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