Boomers have bad credit card habits

More than two-thirds of Americans have credit cards, and of those, about 27 percent say they have at least four cards, a recent study found. What's more disturbing is that the majority of these credit card holders have habits that result in interest charges or fees. According to the FINRA Investor Education Foundation study, one-third of credit card holders had two or more bad habits, and 17 percent engaged in three or more. The very young and the very old appear to be the most responsible. Three-quarters of Americans over 60 said they always pay their credit cards in full, followed by 51 percent of those 18-29 years old. Boomers were more likely than any other age group to be charged a fee for making a late payment (29 percent).

The study identified some other financial patterns among boomers:

• Forty-four percent say they always pay credit card balances in full.
• Fifty-eight percent carried over a balance and were charged interest.
• Nearly two-thirds say they paid the minimum payment only.
• Only 9 percent were charged a fee for exceeding their credit lines.
• Eight percent say they occasionally used a credit card for a cash advance.