Denver7 reports that young Coloradans are seeking debt counseling at record rates, with Gen Z getting buried under credit card balances as inflation and basic living costs keep chewing through paychecks. The story focuses on 25-year-old Kaleb Knoll of Westminster, who had seven maxed-out credit cards and said the debt did not come from luxury spending. It came from gas, groceries, and the daily nickel-and-dime grind of trying to survive in Colorado.
Knoll’s story is the part that should make every elected official stop talking for five minutes and listen. He said one minimum payment was $230, with $160 going straight to interest. Denver7 also reports that a recent TurboDebt report found Gen Z Coloradans carry about $34,000 in unsecured debt. That is not young people buying yachts. That is young people putting survival on plastic.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Young Coloradans are seeking debt counseling at record rates. Nothing says “Colorado affordability” like Gen Z needing a nonprofit financial rescue plan before they hit 30.
- Knoll had seven maxed-out credit cards and said the spending was not glamorous. It was “gas, groceries.” Translation: the basics now come with an APR.
- He said he does not have a single friend who is not in credit card debt. That is not a personal finance hiccup. That is a generational warning flare.
- A nonprofit helped negotiate one of his interest rates down from 29.99% to 2.99%, which tells you two things: credit card interest is a meat grinder, and too many young people are getting fed into it.
- Denver7 reports Gen Z Coloradans carry about $34,000 in unsecured debt. Thirty-four grand. For young people trying to start life in a state where rent, food, gas, insurance, and hope all seem to cost extra.
My Bottom Line
It does not make it right, but it is no surprise either. Colorado kids are in debt up to their eyeballs, and not because they are all living like Instagram influencers with champagne brunches and leased sports cars. They are charging groceries. They are charging gas. They are trying to make the math work in a state that is becoming less and less survivable for normal people.
For nearly eight years, Governor Gaslight told us he was “making Colorado more affordable.” He lied. Or, if we are being charitable, he produced an impressive string of speeches that somehow failed to lower anyone’s rent, grocery bill, insurance premium, utility cost, or credit card balance. The slogans were polished. The results were ugly.
And this says something rotten about where Colorado is headed. A healthy state gives young people a place to begin and older people a place to finish. Colorado is making both harder. Young people cannot start here without debt. Older people cannot stay here without fear. That is not prosperity. That is a postcard with a payment plan.
Yes, personal responsibility matters. People should budget, avoid bad debt, and stop pretending minimum payments are a financial strategy. But leadership matters too. Policy matters. Cost of living matters. When the basics become unaffordable, debt becomes the bridge people use until the bridge collapses. Colorado’s ruling class built a state where too many young people are starting adulthood already underwater, then they wonder why everyone is stressed, broke, and angry.
Source: Denver 7
Share your thoughts...