Easy access to credit Readily available lines of credit may encourage consumers to live up to standards that are not economically feasible, said Thakor. Credit card balances are up almost 20% from a year ago, according to a quarterly credit industry insights report from TransUnion. Social media "Social media puts everything on steroids," said Thakor. People who consume social media are often exposed to content that shows images of people they may know, or from influencers, that make them feel, quite often, inadequate. Remember that social media can be misleading "The bottom line is we are inundated with misinformation around how people become wealthy and how wealthy people spend their money," he said.

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Persons: Jennifer Aniston, Rachel Green, Matt LeBlanc, Joey Tribbiani, David Schwimmer, Ross Geller, Lisa Kudrow, Phoebe Buffay, Hannigan, Matthew Perry, Chandler Bing, Courteney Cox, Monica Geller, Bing, Thakor, They've, Credit Karma, Bradley T, Klontz, Juan Algar Organizations: NBCU, Credit, YMW Advisors, CNBC Locations: New York, TransUnion, influencers, Boulder , Colorado