A new poll by Bankrate says that 56 million people have credit card debt in some form.
In 2023, Americans spent enough money to keep the economy from going into a slump. But then they got into debt. There are 56 million people, or 58%, who have had credit card debt for at least a year. This is what Bankrate found when they polled 1,800 credit card users, and found that 873 of them had a credit card balance.
Many credit card holders aren’t said to be spending recklessly; instead, they say they use their cards for things like medical bills and emergencies. This can make it harder to pay off their bills, especially since they tend to be bigger costs.
Bankrate says that Americans have $1 Trillion in credit card debt. This is the first time that the amount of debt has been this high. Given how rising prices and interest rates have affected everyone’s budgets, this is not a surprise.
“This has been going on for a while: more people taking on more debt for longer periods of time.” An industry analyst at Bankrate named Ted Rossman said, “It’s going in the wrong direction.”
Ted Rossman says that if you open an account with no interest and 21 months of grace, it might help you pay off your credit card debt without taking on more debt in the meantime. He also says you should talk to a credit counselor or call the credit card company to see if they can help you by letting you put off payments or extend due dates.
Rossman says that credit card debt is one of the sources of the most debt, which makes it even more important to settle it. “Credit card debt is the highest by a wide margin, so it has to be at the top of the list for debt payoff efforts,” stated Rossman.
Even though inflation is making things tough, he says that people with credit card debt should set priorities and make changes as needed to pay it off, especially since this is the highest level of credit debt ever recorded.
