It used to be sex. Then it was death. Now, the latest taboo is debt. It’s such a taboo that we don’t just keep the details of our debt from others, we somehow manage to keep this vital information from ourselves!

A quarter of Americans have no idea how much they spend in a week, and a similar number (26%) have no idea of their monthly cash flow. This lack of knowledge extends into other financial aspects of life. Only half the population (51%) know the balance on their credit cards; and nearly half (46%) have no idea what interest rates they receive on their savings, or the rates they’re paying on their debts.

Lest you should feel smug and think this is just Americans, 1 in 3 British people in a relationship, keep the details of their debts a secret from their partners and a whopping 25% don’t even know their partners have any debt at all!

I’m no anthropologist, but it seems to me that every culture needs it’s taboo – at least one. In the last few years Western societies have opened up massively. People talk about sex, death, abuse, drugs and paedophilia in the same tones as their shopping list or what time the bus is due. What we do seem to keep to ourselves, is how much we owe. Really, check it out. Ask a few people how much they owe on credit cards or if they are in debt. Some people will react with horror that you are even asking, others will answer honestly, “I don’t know how much”.

Something I have noticed is that no-one starts to really deal with their debt until they know EXACTLY how much it is. When they do know, they find they’ve been lying to themselves and it’s bigger than they thought. When they tell someone else, it kicks them off.

Want to clear your debt? Then go ahead, break that taboo. Sit down and work it out, then tell someone. Come back and tell me – How much is your debt?

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