When the economy starts to surge, Americans begin having confidence in their spending habits. But rather than paying cash for these things, we’re turning to our credit cards more than ever.
43% of Americans have been carrying around a card balance for longer than two years. The average credit card debt per household has spike to over $16,000 and pays over $1,200 in interest each year!
Collectively, that totals to $104 billion in interest payments per year. That’s a lot of money! The bad news is, it’s up 35% from 2013. That says that most people didn’t learn their lesson from the Great Recession and continued to pile on more debt than ever.
As the economy continues to rebound, it means interest rates are only going to spike higher. My March of 2019, they rates are expected to climb by 10%, so those already high interest payments will exceed $110 billion. These rates are soaring faster than mortgage rates, and yet, it doesn’t seem to bother Americans.
In the first quarter of this year alone, household debt rose $63 billion to a new record of $13.21 trillion. This is getting to epidemic proportions and could lead to a new recession in the near future. Economists are startled, to say the least.
With personal debts slated to get much more expensive in the coming years, you have several options now to help settle your debts and pay a lower interest rate. It will require you to be proactive and to stop accumulating more debt.
One of your options involves consolidating and refinancing your debts with Financial Helpers. All it takes is a single phone call to see what your options are and we’ll help create a plan that works FOR YOU. If you can refinance your debts, it will lower your overall interest payments, saving you thousands of dollars. Give us a call at the number below:
Other options include cutting back on your spending so you can afford the higher interest. Yes, the economy might be soaring, and you might be on tract financially, but you have to ask yourself where you’ll be if you lose your job or if the economy hits the toilet.
You can choose to tackle the debt with the highest interest rates first, but it’s not going to help you if you keep borrowing money for things.
Overall, you’re going to have to take your budget seriously. We’ve revealed how a lot of Americans simply aren’t as financially literate as they should be regarding how they make and spend money. Because of that, they often find themselves in trouble, fail to save for emergencies, and often have to work well past retirement age because they couldn’t save.
Don’t put yourself in that position. Give Financial Helpers a call and we’ll help you get out from underneath this heavy burden once and for all.
