DR. WALLACE: I don't smoke, but I was surprised when my boyfriend's sister lit up a cigarette when I was at my boyfriend's house. I asked her when she started smoking and she said about a month ago. She followed that by saying that more teen girls in high school are now smoking cigarettes than boys and I should give tobacco a chance. Of course, I won't start smoking, but I don't know where she got her information on female teen smoking. Did she make it up or is it fact? — Anonymous, Goshen, Indiana
ANONYMOUS: Your boyfriend's sister is not correct. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a few years back, teen girls indeed passed teen boys in the percentage of cigarette smokers. However, the most recent statistics from the year 2017 reveal that more high school boys smoke cigarettes than girls do. The good news is that teen cigarette smoking overall has dropped by nearly half from 2011 to 2017. Read that carefully... Cigarette smoking has dropped markedly. However, when all tobacco products are included (cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, hookahs, pipe tobacco and bidis), there has been an overall rise is tobacco use by high school students over the past decade. This is sad but true.
YOU'VE IMPROVED MY ANSWER
DR. WALLACE: Some time ago, an 18-year-old high school graduate wrote to you asking if he should take an offer from a credit card company and apply for a card. You warned him about the high interest rate on the unpaid monthly balance and the importance of paying at least the minimum monthly payment allowed by the credit card company to keep up a good credit rating.
That's all well and good, but you should also have informed him that if he only makes the minimum monthly payment on a $2,000 balance, it will take 18 years to pay it off in full, even if he never charges anything else during those 18 years! This is because he will have paid about $2,615 in interest. — Math Major, via email
MATH MAJOR: Wow! You bring up a startling bit of information. I'm sure credit card companies are not thrilled that I'm printing your letter.
I still feel that credit cards can be useful economic tools if used prudently. My answer should have been: Yes, obtain the card, but use it wisely. Pay the balance in full each month, but if that is not possible, at least make the minimum payment and then pay the remaining balance the next month to catch up in full so that revolving, ongoing interest charges to not accrue and compound.
I heartily agree with your warning that by making only the minimum payment each month, a student could cause their $2,000 debt to linger for the equivalent of their lifetime — another 18 years! The interest paid would ultimately be considerably more than the debt itself. Your excellent point has helped me to improve my answer. Thank you!
Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at [email protected]. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
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