During the dot-com heyday it was for a short while actually possible to max out your 18% credit
cards, buy stocks and make more than enough on the stock appreciation to make a
profit on the credit-card rate.
Which is a little extreme, but aside from it being un-American to not be in debt up to your eyebrows, debt is a useful tool if managed properly. Otherwise we wouldn't have mortgages, for example.
Agree, 75K is a bit much to have floating around, but it's relatively small when you are expecting to make $200K/year+raises on an ongoing basis. Espceially since after the first $100K or so, the drain on your finances for basic living expenses can be relatively minor.
Closer to home, I had a friend who managed in pre-dot-com times to rack up $38K in credit card debt on an income of about $55K. He ended up having to sell part of his real estate inheritance to get the creditors off his back.
And he was more or less a responsible person with money.
[ February 17, 2004: Message edited by: Tim Holloway ]