As Americans face rising costs on just about everything, the amount of debt they're taking on is going up, too. Credit card balances recently reached a record $1.28 trillion. And according to credit-reporting company Experian, 38% of U.S. consumers now have a personal loan, with the number of these loans on credit reports reaching 67.5 million. Both of those figures represent the highest levels since Experian started collecting data in 2017.
For some, the strain of staying afloat is becoming more evident. The financial stress index from the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC), which reflects the financial ability of consumers to repay unsecured debts, recently hit its highest level since the NFCC began tracking it in 2018.
