The average American has a credit card balance of $4,293, according to the latest Experian data. Total credit card debt is also at its highest point ever, surpassing $1 trillion, the Federal Reserve found.
Now, more than 1 in 3 people — or 86 million Americans — said they’re afraid they’ll max out their credit card when making a large purchase, according to a WalletHub credit cards survey. (Most of those polled considered a large purchase as anything over $100.)
At the same time, credit card interest rates have never been higher. The average card interest rate is currently 17.41 percent, according to CreditCards.com’s latest report. That’s up from 16.15 percent one year earlier and 15.22 percent two years ago.
And still, credit card delinquency rates, or late payments over 90 days past due, remain relatively low even though rates have been slowly rising in the last few years.
Meanwhile, outstanding student loan debt has tripled in the last decade and is now $1.5 trillion. A college education is now the second-largest expense an individual is likely to make in a lifetime — right after purchasing a home.
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