One of the most common problems Americans face is debt. All together, Americans owe a total of over $11 trillion, which usually comes from one or more of three sources. Here is what they are, and what you can do if you’re one of the many Americans who need debt help.
Student Loans
We all know that college costs are increasing by the year. In addition to tuition, the cost of room and board, books, transportation, and living expenses can put college costs into the tens of thousands per year. Though there are grants and scholarships available, the average college graduate in the United States still has about $31,500 in student loan debt, which is problematic with an unstable job market.
Credit Card Debt
Another common source of debt in America is credit card debt. It can be easy to get one through a retail store (which they rope people into by offering immediate discounts) or one that people tells themselves they’ll use to build good credit until they’ve spiraled into credit card debt which can be hard to get out of because of high interest rates. Altogether, Americans have almost $850 billion in credit card debt.
Medical Expenses
Though with the passage of the Affordable Care Act, this number will probably drop in the coming years, but bout 41% of working Americans are currently paying off debt from medical expenses. Medical care — especially for accidents and emergency care — can be notoriously expensive, and all it takes is one incident to be thousands of dollars in debt.
There are a number of different ways to get debt help these days through debt management programs. You should find out how much debt you’re in as soon as possible and start taking action to take care of it. Most types of debt have interest accumulating on them, so the earlier you start looking into debt management plans, the better. For more about this, go here.
