Almost One in Five Americans Never Expect to Get Out of Debt

AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Almost one in five Americans with debt (18%) think they will never get out of it, according to a new CreditCards.com report. That's double the 9% who gave that response the last time CreditCards.com asked this question in May 2013.

On average, Americans expect to achieve debt-free status at age 53 (including credit card debt, car loans, student loans, mortgages and other types of debt). However, 43% of those with debt expect to remain in debt at age 61 or later, including the 18% who predict they will still owe money when they die. Fewer than one in four Americans with debt expect to be debt-free at age 40 or earlier.

More than a third of Americans (38%) have already incurred debt this holiday season. They don't expect it to last long, though. 55% say they will eliminate the holiday debt within one month, and 74% expect their holiday debt to linger no more than three months. Just 5% say they will still be paying their holiday debt a year from now.

When it comes to overall debt, the most optimistic are millennials. Only 6% of 18-29 year-olds say they will never get out of debt, compared with 31% of debtors age 65 and older and 22% between the ages of 50 and 64.

"It's easy to feel paralyzed when you're overloaded with debt and feel like you'll never get out, but the worst thing you can do is nothing," said Matt Schulz, CreditCards.com's senior industry analyst. "It's incredibly important to make moves to begin knocking down those debts before they truly do grow out of control."

For example, get your spending in check by tracking everything you spend, creating a realistic budget and sticking to it. You can also attempt to negotiate lower interest rates on your credit cards or even transfer balances to a low-interest card, which can save you hundreds to thousands of dollars in the long run. The goal is to free up money so you can send as much money as possible to your creditors.

For more help, it can make sense to work with an accredited credit counselor.

Additional Highlights

• 21% of whites with debt never expect to pay it off versus 12% of non-whites.

• The highest-income households (annual income of $75,000+) are only slightly more optimistic about their ability to get out of debt than lower income brackets.

• College graduates, however, are significantly more optimistic about their debt loads than people with a high school education or less.

• 44% of people between the ages of 50 and 64 have accumulated holiday debt, more than any other age group.

• Households with annual income of $75,000 or greater were the most likely to take on holiday debt.

More information is available here:

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/debt-forever.php

Princeton Survey Research Associates International obtained telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,001 adults living in the continental United States. Telephone interviews were conducted by landline (501) and cell phone (500, including 289 without a landline phone) in English and Spanish from December 4-7, 2014. Statistical results are weighted to correct known demographic discrepancies. The margin of sampling error for the full sample is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points, and 4.3 percentage points for those with debt.

About CreditCards.com:

CreditCards.com, named a "Best Site for Managing Your Credit" by MSN Money, is a leading online credit card marketplace, bringing consumers and credit card issuers together. At its free website, consumers can compare hundreds of credit card offers from America's leading issuers and banks and apply securely, online. CreditCards.com is also a destination site for consumers wanting to learn more about credit cards. Offering advice, news, features, statistics and tools, CreditCards.com helps consumers make smart choices about credit cards. In 2013, 19.5 million unique visitors used CreditCards.com to find the right credit card to suit their needs.

For More Information:

Ted Rossman
Public Relations Manager
[email protected]
917-368-8635

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SOURCE CreditCards.com

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