Consumer Debt Looks Set to Keep Soaring

"When financial institutions aren't able to withstand the price of people not being able to pay their debts, defaulting on their mortgages and credit card payments -- that's when the boom gets lowered and consumers can't use credit anymore," said Kathleen Gurney, author of Your Financial Personality: What It Is and How You Can Profit From It.

Ultimately, this creates a situation where banks and the economy react to the debt crisis because there's little incentive to put on the breaks right now. According to Robert Kiyosaki, the best-selling author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, 2003 will be yet another year on a road to potential ruin.

"Take this problem out 10 more years," Kiyosaki said. "Millions of baby boomers won't be able to retire because they're carrying all this debt. At that point, there isn't enough in the 401(k) and medical insurers will cancel their insurance when they turn 65. It's a perfect storm. There's not enough money for retirement, too much debt, no medical insurance and they're out of time, financially."

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