Credit card debt has been rising at one of the fastest rates in history.

The amount Americans owed on credit cards hit an record high of over $1.2 trillion at the end of 2024.

And people are not only spending more on plastic, they’re also paying down less, carrying high balances and shelling out more in interest and also late fees.

A third of Americans now have more credit card debt than emergency savings, according to an annual survey from Bankrate.

MPR News host Angela Davis talks about why credit card debt is growing and strategies for tackling it.

Guests:

• Chris Farrell is a senior economics contributor for MPR News and Marketplace. His new 12-part series for Marketplace, “Buy Now, Pay Later,” focuses on the worrisome trend of older Americans carrying debt into retirement. 
• Joanne Lundberg is the financial counseling supervisor at LSS Financial Counseling, a service of Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota. She is based in Duluth.

Resources mentioned during the show:

The National Foundation for Credit Counseling provides advice on how to avoid and handle credit card debt and manage your credit score. It also provides referrals to nonprofit organizations that can work with people individually on reducing credit card debt.

The nonprofit organization LSS Financial Counseling runs a debt management program.