The new Bankrate annual survey of Americans’ expectations of their financial well-being when they kick the bucket indicates people are feeling pretty good this year.
Only 7% of U.S. adults think they’ll still be carrying debt when they died, the lowest percentage the credit card analysts have found in the seven recent annual studies they’ve conducted, down from 25% last year and a record 30% the year before.
“What I think it shows is that 2019 was a really good year financially,” says industry analyst Ted Rossman. “We saw the unemployment rate hit a 50-year low, we saw stock markets hit numerous record highs.” A very bright holiday season showed consumers are willing to open their wallets and spend.
45% of Americans now expect to be debt-free within the next five years, and the average for all Americans is nine years.
Credit card debt remains the number one crunch at 41%, followed by autos and mortgages tied at 26%, student loans at 16%, medical debt at 13%, personal loans 12%, home equity or lines of credit at 6%, and payday loans at 3%.