37 37 in from Sugar Land as well. And Katie, only 41 minutes. >> Just enough. Thank you. With sky-high interest rates getting your credit card debt is more important than ever. Joining us now is Ted Rossman senior industry analyst with Bankrate on some very important advice on how to get rid of that debt. Ted, thank you so much for joining us. Let’s jump right in here. More than half of Americans have credit card debt. What’s the main reason for this? >> The main reason is emergency expenses, some sort of unexpected medical bill home repair car repair. That’s the leading cause of credit card debt. Second place is day to day expenses. I think there’s very much an inflation story.

We’re seeing a lot of people putting necessities on credit cards, which is understandable, but difficult. If you’re financing that over time at an average interest rate over 20%. All right. So what are some of the best ways that we can lower or even eliminate that credit card debt? >> My top tip is to get a 0% balance transfer credit card. These allow you to avoid interest for up to 21 months. So you take your existing debt from one or more cards rolling over to a new card with a generous intro promotion.

The Wells Fargo or fly. Citi simplicity and City Diamond Preferred are 3 good options. I would say divide what you owe by the number of months and years. 0% term and tri-state about if you add new purchases, it makes it harder to hit a moving target. >> So higher income households also have debt as well. Right? >> Yes, there was an interesting finding from this study, which is that on one hand, as you would expect, lower income households are more likely to have credit card debt. The surprising thing, though, about upper income households is they’re the most likely to have a long-term debt. So if they have credit card debt households with annual incomes of $100,000 or more. 72% of them have had that deaf or at least a year only 53% among credit card debt or others who make under 50,000 a year.

So whether you call it keeping up with the Joneses are just simply life is expensive. Upper income households are wrestling with long-term doubt. I think access to credit is part of this, too. You know, some people say credit cards are like power tools. They could be really useful or they could be dangerous. Some over income households are getting in over their heads with this credit. >> And it’s always a good idea, right to sit down and make a budget to see how much money you can put toward each credit card per month. >> That’s so important. J you can’t hide from credit card debt.

I know it’s not the easiest thing to talk about, but let’s face it. If you have the average balance, which is about $5700, according to TransUnion, if you make minimum payments, 20 and-a-half percent, you’re going to be in debt for more than 17 years and you’re going to end up paying about $8400, Justin interest. So we need to come up with a better plan like that. 0% balance transfer car, maybe consider engaging with a reputable nonprofit credit counseling agency like Money Management International, or maybe just take a side hustle or cut your expenses, sort. So some stuff you don’t need a dollar saved is a dollar. And after all, and are these credit card companies? >> Open to working with consumers, for example, let’s say I pick up the phone and I call one of these credit card companies and ask for a lower interest rate.

What what are the chances of that happening? >> There’s a good chance they’ll give you a lower grade. It may not be enough to be super meaningful, though. You know, maybe they take your rate from 20% to 15. Let’s say that’s where I think the 0% balance transfer is a better approach. This is a marketing incentive typically for new customers. I suppose you could always ask your current It chances are this is really more of a marketing deal for do toss to MERS. But these cards are widely available, probably need good to excellent credit, which most people have another negotiating a option is that nonprofit credit counseling idea, a reputable groups like money Management, international, they can often negotiate terms like a 7 or 8% rate over for 5 years based on their relationships with blinders.

All right. Some great advice. Ted Rossman senior industry analyst for Bankrate. >> Appreciate you joining us this morning. No problem..