Study: American personal debt tops $16 trillion, average debt load reaches $165K per household
Credit card debt grew 28% over the last year
InvestigateTV - According to a new NerdWallet study, Americans are falling further into debt as the typical US household owes roughly $165,000 each, about 8% more debt than they did the previous year.
Personal finance expert Sara Rathner with NerdWallet said mortgages make up a big portion of the debt.
“If you were to break that apart and just look at credit card debt,” Rathner said. “Households with revolving credit card debt owe about $7,500, which is up about 28% from last year.”
She said the end of pandemic aid combined with higher prices and higher interest rates has consumers relying more on credit cards.
According to Rathner, now is an excellent time to try and make your debt less expensive: especially high-interest credit card debt.
Rathner shared several tips to help tackle the bigger debt load:
- Consider using balance transfer offers with a lower interest rate
- Look for cards that offer zero interest rates for a promotional period of 12 months or longer
- Personal loans may have lower interest rates than credit cards
- Try to delay big purchases if possible until your debt load is lower
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