Welcome back to Between The Lies, where we expose the financial reality hidden behind government statistics. I'm Nicky P, and I'm joined by the money truth-tellers at Perfect Spiral Capital - Luke Tatum and Rob Brayton.

This week's headline is almost comical: According to the Fed, Americans are apparently on holiday out to the beach and just swimming in debt. $1.2 trillion in credit card debt. $439 billion added in just one quarter. For reference, that's half of what all credit card debt was in 2008 - and we all remember how that ended.

What We Cover:

• How $439 billion in quarterly credit card increases compares to 2008 levels

• Why we haven't overcome Parkinson's Law (expenses rise to meet income)

• The housing cost squeeze that makes austerity nearly impossible

• How boomers are headed toward a cliff nobody wants to talk about

• Why the system is designed to keep the little guy losing

• Credit scores as bank profit indicators, not consumer health metrics

• The 1913 Jekyll Island meeting that changed everything

• Why even "cash flow" gurus still trap you in debt-based systems

Key Takeaways:

Rob breaks down how $439 billion in quarterly credit card debt is literally half of what existed during the entire 2008 crisis.

Luke explains why people can't just "spend less" when housing costs eat a fortune and wages stay flat.

And I bring up the expected boomer housing cliff - properties worth a fortune with no millennials able to buy them.

We also tackle the uncomfortable truth: Your credit score isn't measuring your financial health. It's measuring how profitable you are to banks. Pay everything off? Your score drops because you're not making them money.

The Reality Check: This is a game rigged against regular people. Banks won the battle for economic control in 1913, and we're living in that reality. But understanding the game means you can play by different rules.

Perfect Spiral Capital Insight: Luke and Rob reveal why infinite banking exists - to let you play the same game the banks play, but for yourself. When others are drowning in credit card debt, their clients are accumulating capital that compounds automatically while remaining completely liquid for opportunities.

Ready to stop playing by banking rules that keep you broke? Visit PerfectSpiralCapital.com/podcast for their free toolkit on building real wealth outside the debt trap.