When I told my wife I was launching Debt Awareness Week, her reply was both amusing and accurate: “Who’s not aware of all the debt they have?”
She’s right, of course. But she’s also just a little bit wrong. I’ve never met a functional adult who’s told me. “I don’t know if I owe anyone any money. Maybe I do, and maybe I don’t.”
Between credit cards and student loans, mortgages and auto loans, medical debt and personal loans, most of us are aware that we owe a lot of money to a lot of people. But we seldom realize just how much – or how serious the problem is.
Politics and psychology
That’s what Debt Awareness Week is really for: getting over our willful denial and facing the truth. Part of that is psychological. Human beings tend to be pessimistic about the future of their country and the planet, but they’re optimists about their own lives.
Click here for full audio transcript
At Debt.com we know that debt affects millions of Americans. But what we’ve also learned is that many people don’t fully understand their debt or the options available to help them get out of it.
That’s why we’ve created Deb Awareness Week. Debt Awareness Week is about more than just recognizing the problem – it’s about starting real conversations and providing real solutions to help people take control of their financial future. The truth is debt isn’t just numbers on a statement. It impacts people’s daily lives, their stress levels, and their future.
Many people struggle in silence because they don’t know where to turn or they feel ashamed. But debt is not a personal failure. It’s a financial challenge that can be solved with the right resources. So what do you think your debt-free day will be? How many days will it take? Our Debt-Free Day Calculator can show you what date you’d officially be debt-free if you dedicated all your income to paying it off.
The answer might surprise you but don’t worry, we’re here to help throughout Debt Awareness Week we’re sharing resources and expert insights that show you that getting out of debt is possible.
Whether you’re struggling with credit card debt, student loans, or unexpected medical bills, there is a way forward. So this week, let’s spread awareness, break the stigma, and take control of your financial future. Visit Debt.com to learn more and together we can turn debt awareness into solutions.
Then there’s politics. With the nation split between red and blue, nothing is nonpartisan. Even personal debt is now an us-versus-them contest of wills over topics like student loan forgiveness, interest rates, and whether medical debt should be excluded from credit scores.
The psychology keeps us in denial. The politics keeps us distracted. Meanwhile, personal debt keeps climbing, according to the Federal Reserve…
- At the beginning of 2015, Americans owed a total of $684 billion on their credit cards. At the end of 2024, that nearly doubled to $1.16 trillion.
- Going back 20 years, student loan debt was $520 billion in 2005. Now it’s tripled to $1.75 trillion.
- Americans owe a total of $18 trillion on their credit cards, auto loans, student loans, and mortgages. That’s an average of $103,000 per U.S. adult.
Forget about the national debt for a moment. The United States government may be running $36 trillion in the red, but right now, I’m more worried about you.
What’s your Debt-Free Day?
The crux of Debt Awareness Week is a simple online calculator. It estimates your Debt-Free Day – basically, how many days you need to work just to pay off your debts. It divides your income by your debts and gives you a day.
Right now, if you divide the average American’s income ($62,027) by their average debt ($23,317), you get a Debt-Free Day of June 21. That means the average American needs to work 138 days out of the year just to get back to break-even.
I understand that life is hard and emergencies happen. So I don’t expect I’ll live to see most people improve their Debt-Free Day to early January. But Debt Awareness Week is in mid-February for a reason: If most Americans can move up their Debt-Free Day by four months, that will be a huge win for those individuals – and the overall economy.
When I explained all of this to my wife, she agreed. I hope you do, too.
