Kemeys has learned from personal experience. Even as a highly financially literate and well-paid chartered accountant, he was sucked in by what he calls the psychology trap, using debt to feel better or spend beyond his means, convinced by loyalty rewards and interest-free offers.

But then “I realised this thing was using me more than I was using it”.

While many people argue credit cards are worth it because of Airpoints and other rewards, Kemeys is scathing. “Like, ‘oh, wow, I made $400 in Airpoints’. Cool, enjoy your flight to Taupō. Meanwhile, you’ve spent tens of thousands to get there.”

He says incurring short-term debt puts you in a precarious position. “If you’re committing your future income to the debt dealers, as I call them, you’re basically saying, ‘I hope nothing goes wrong in the next 18 months’. That’s not a strong position to live from.”

Instead, he urges people to build an emergency fund and put their energies into learning to invest. “How have you made sense of borrowing more on a credit card to learn about reward points than you have to put time into learning about investing and compounding and snowballing money for the future?”

He urges people to believe they’re capable of more. “People in the credit card cult are robbing themselves of the ability to reach their potential,” he says. “You don’t need to beat the banks at their game. You can run your own race.”

Listen to the full episode of The Prosperity Project for more

The podcast is hosted by Nadine Higgins, an experienced broadcaster and a financial adviser at Enable Me.

You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes are released every Monday.