While most folks are out shopping for their holiday gifts, many of them will be taking out their credit cards to pay for them, which means they are likely adding to their already huge credit card debt, which will cost them big time.
According to to NerdWallet's 2017 American Household Credit Card Debt Study, U.S. consumers have racked up $12.96 trillion in total debt, with the average household with debt owing about $131,431, which includes mortgages.
Of that debt, credit card debt can be the most costly to pay off. The study finds that total U.S. credit card debt is about $905 billion, with the average households with credit card debt having a balance of about $15,654. And what’s worse, U.S. households with credit card debt will pay $904 a year in interest alone, with that number expected to go up to $919 per year.
- And these days credit cards aren’t being used solely to buy that cute shirt at the mall, or to eat out at that fancy restaurant you probably can’t afford. The report finds that almost 27-million Americans are paying for medical expenses with credit cards, which costs more than $12-billion. For those people, they’ll likely pay $471 a year in interest on their medical bills, and it will take them about 70 months to pay it off.
Source: NerdWallet