Credit card debt can take more money - and time - to repay than you might expect. 

Answer: 70%

Questions:

1. Hypothesize: what prevents so many people from paying off their credit card?
2. Some people pay the minimum amount (usually about ~3% of their balance) instead of paying the full bill. Is that a good strategy? Why or why not?
3. Imagine you ended up with credit card debt that would take a year to pay off. What feelings do you think would come up for you? Why?
4. What strategies could you use to pay down a large credit card bill, while still managing other expenses?

Click here for the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.

Behind the Numbers (Bankrate):

“Thirty percent of credit card debtors expect to pay off their credit card debt in less than a year. Another 41 percent expect to pay it off in one to five years. Thus, close to 3 in 4 debtors (71 percent) believe they’ll pay off their credit card debt within five years.

However, 13 percent think it will take more than a decade to pay off, including 6 percent who say they’ll never get out of credit card debt.

But time is money — in this case, the accumulation of interest."

About the Author

Kathryn Dawson

Kathryn (she/her) is excited to join the NGPF team after 9 years of experience in education as a mentor, tutor, and special education teacher. She is a graduate of Cornell University with a degree in policy analysis and management and has a master's degree in education from Brooklyn College. Kathryn is looking forward to bringing her passion for accessibility and educational justice into curriculum design at NGPF. During her free time, Kathryn loves embarking on cooking projects, walking around her Seattle neighborhood with her dog, or lounging in a hammock with a book.