Americans owe a whopping amount of credit card debt

Today is Tax Day, and there’s a good chance you have your money on your mind. And there’s a good chance you’re thinking about whatever credit card debt you may have.

The Federal Reserve says the country's credit card debt rose 6.2 percent last year to just over one trillion dollars. Matt Schulz with CreditCards.com told KTRH he's not all that surprised.

“It’s a really big number. It’s not shocking that we’re here because it’s been a slow and steady climb since the recession,” Schulz said.

Sean McQuay at Nerd Wallet says there are two kinds of credit card debt. He'd like you to focus on reducing the bad credit card debt you may have.

“That could be buying things you can’t afford; going shopping to buy clothing and sporting goods you can’t afford. I would call that unhealthy debt,” McQuay explained.

And there’s more bad news. Your debt could get worse. If the Federal Reserve raises interest rates two more times this year, as they have said they'd like to do, your interest payments could go up. Right now you're paying about 1200 dollars in interest. If rates rise, that could go up to over $1300 a year.


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