‘Jeopardy!’ Champs Have a Go at ‘Debt’

Much to our delight, Wednesday night’s “Jeopardy!” episode included a category seemingly custom made for Bankruptcy Beat readers. For those who missed it, “Cause of Debt” included five debt-laden questions that at times stumped the contestants (Tournament of Champions contestants, no less).

How would you have done on last night’s show? Take the quiz to find out.

$400 Question: One analysis says that those who graduated in 2012 with these had an average of almost $30,000.

Answer: What are student loans?

$800 Question: Be careful with getting a heloc, this type of “line of credit”; your house could go bye-bye.

Answer: What is home equity?

$1,200 Question (and a Daily Double! Risk it all!): The national council on the problem type of this activity says it affects six [million] to nine million Americans.

Answer: What is gambling?

$1,600 Question: The short duration of these rhyming “loans” given in advance of your next work check can mean high fees.

Answer: What are payday loans?

$2,000 Question: A study found that these contributed to 62% of personal bankruptcies in 2007.

Answer: What are medical bills?

The answer to that last question comes from a study partly conducted by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), but not everyone agrees that the percentage is so high. A recent study from Northeastern University, for example, found the proportion of consumer bankruptcies filed primarily because of medical debt is somewhere between 18% to 25%. Despite the smaller percentage, that study agreed with earlier research that concludes medical bills are the single largest cause of consumer bankruptcy. However, Sen. Warren’s critics also came in for some criticism.

-Katy Stech contributed to this article.

Write to Sara Randazzo at [email protected]. Follower her on Twitter at @sara_randazzo