--- title: For Most Americans, Financial Success Now Means Being Debt-Free description: A new survey finds 74% of Americans now define financial success as living debt-free amid rising costs and growing financial stress. authors: - name: Adam Hardy role: Lead Data Reporter url: https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/ bio: Adam Hardy is a lead data journalist at Money, where he frequently reports on financial barriers that affect low-income Americans. Adam’s work has also appeared in Business Insider, Forbes, Nasdaq, The Penny Hoarder, Yahoo! Finance and more than a dozen local and regional newspapers. education: University of South Florida, BA, Magazine Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 500 covers: - Debt - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - The Penny Hoarder - Forbes Advisor - Creative Loafing - The New York Times - The Washington Post - Bloomberg - Harvard Law School - The Federal Register - National Consumer Law Center - CBS News - Becker's Hospital Review - Business Insider - Mother Jones - The Week - Fortune - The Philadelphia Inquirer - National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NAFSAA) - Education Advisory Board (EAB) - The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) - This Morning with Gordon Deal - Empower - Reddit social: - https://www.x.com/hardyjournalism - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardyjournalism/ editors: - name: Katherine Peach role: Associate Editor url: https://money.com/author/katherine-peach/ bio: Katherine Peach is an associate editor with a focus on news and email at Money. She didn’t always intend to write about money. She’s a classically trained pianist who dreamed of becoming an archaeologist. However, in 2007 Katherine began working in financial publishing as an editor for Agora Inc. (Apparently, unearthing ideas about improving your personal finances isn’t such a bad career alternative!) Katherine’s writing and editing work has been featured in Investing Daily, Clever, Investor Junkie, The Palm Beach Letter, Truth & Plenty, Independence Monthly, NICHE, AmericanStyle, AntiqueWeek, Millennial Money, Money Done Right, TheStreet, Sure Dividend and many others. Katherine holds a Bachelor of Arts in Ancient Studies with concentrations in Archaeology and Ancient Languages and a minor in Literature from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. education: University of Maryland, Baltimore County at_money_since: 2025 articles: 14 covers: - Debt - Banking - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Federal Reserve Rate Cuts - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes published: '2025-11-17T13:30:05.000Z' modified: '2025-12-10T18:35:01.000Z' section: Debt tags: - News word_count: 648 canonical: https://money.com/americans-define-financial-success/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Happy couple at their home looking at paid bills](https://img.money.com/2025/11/News-Americans-Success-Debt-Free.jpg) For a large majority of Americans, being financially successful means being debt-free. About 3 in 4 U.S. adults (74%) now say being debt-free is a key part of how they define financial success, according to KeyBank’s Annual Financial Mobility Survey [released last week](https://investor.key.com/press-releases/news-details/2025/Is-Debt-Free-the-New-Luxury-KeyBank-Survey-Explores/default.aspx). The bank’s survey found that Americans are prioritizing being debt-free over other traditional life milestones such as getting married or buying a home. "The financial landscape for Americans is shifting in profound ways," Daniel Brown, an executive vice president at KeyBank, said in a statement. "It's showing that the measure of success is not wealth alone, but also the ability to live debt-free and prepare for what's ahead.” ## Regain financial stability with the help of Freedom Debt Relief ### Freedom can start you on the path to resolve your debt, especially if you owe over $20,000. Why wait? Select your state to get started today! [Get Started](https://money.com/pr/l67257dab4e3?ap_referrer=%2Famericans-define-financial-success%2F&apxa1=money-stress-causes-insomnia) KeyBank surveyed over 1,000 U.S. adults aged 18 to 70 in July for the bank’s seventh annual report. In 2025, Americans say they are feeling far more financially stressed than they were last year, with 68% reporting financial stress versus 50% in 2024. Americans’ feelings of financial success are also diminishing, KeyBanks says. Only 39% of adults say they’re feeling more financially successful than they did five years ago. The rising cost of living is largely to blame, with respondents particularly struggling with food and housing costs, as well as credit card debt. Since the start of 2020, the cost of living has ballooned by [about 26%](https://www.bls.gov/regions/mid-atlantic/data/consumerpriceindexhistorical_us_table.htm), according to data from the Department of Labor. Both grocery and housing costs have risen by approximately 30% since then. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York says American household debt has risen to [$18.6 trillion](https://www.newyorkfed.org/newsevents/news/research/2025/20251105), of which $1.2 trillion is credit card debt. ## How to become (bad) debt-free While some Americans dream of the days of having zero debts, it’s important to remember that not all debt is created equal. Some debt may even be “[good debt](https://money.com/dollar-scholar-good-vs-bad-debt/).” Adrianna Adams, a certified financial planner at Domain Money, previously told Money that good debt includes liabilities that increase your net worth, significantly enhance your life and/or provide future value. A mortgage, for example, is a major debt, but it’s a good one that often increases in value and provides a roof over your head. Having at least some debt is required to build credit~,~ so that you can qualify for a mortgage in the first place. Still, Americans are right to be wary of racking up debt, especially debts like payday loans or credit card balances. Eliminating debt — especially bad debt — takes proper planning. First, you should list out who you owe, your monthly payments, total balances and annual percentage rates (APRs). The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has a [helpful debt-log worksheet](https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_your-money-your-goals_debt_log_tool_2018-11_ADA.pdf) you can use as a template. For starters, you’ll want to make sure you're covering the minimum monthly payments on all of these debts. Then you’ll want to decide between the two most popular debt pay-off strategies: the [debt snowball or the debt avalanche](https://money.com/debt-snowball-vs-debt-avalanche/). The debt snowball method prioritizes debts with the lowest balance, while the debt avalanche targets the debt with the highest APR first. In some cases, [debt consolidation](https://money.com/understanding-debt-consolidation/) may be a savvy move to simplify your debts into one monthly payment. For example, it may be possible to get a lower interest rate on one debt consolidation loan than what you'd be paying across several credit cards. Alternatively, you could extend the length of the loan to pay less each month (but more in total) if you're struggling to afford minimum payments**.** Whichever method you choose, you’ll want to adjust your budget accordingly to accommodate making extra debt payments in a manner that keeps you motivated and on track to reach your goals — whether that’s being entirely free of debt, or just getting rid of the bad kind. ## Debt holding you back? ### If you owe over $20,000, learn how Freedom Debt Relief can help you reduce or eliminate it. Act now! [Visit Site](https://money.com/pr/nd3b95dcb6af?ap_referrer=%2Famericans-define-financial-success%2F&apxa1=money-stress-causes-insomnia) ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/25289/medium_2e7b27ce-b30d-40a3-beef-0139ecba6b47.png) If you owe over $20,000 or more, Freedom Debt Relief can help you get back on your feet! [Get Started](https://money.com/pr/u5c2defb44d4?ap_referrer=%2Famericans-define-financial-success%2F&apxa1=money-stress-causes-insomnia) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/americans-define-financial-success/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Debt", "item": "https://money.com/debt/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "News", "item": "https://money.com/tag/news/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "For Most Americans, Financial Success Now Means Being Debt-Free" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/americans-define-financial-success/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/americans-define-financial-success/", "name": "For Most Americans, Financial Success Now Means Being Debt-Free", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2025-11-17T13:30:05.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/americans-define-financial-success/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/americans-define-financial-success/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2025-12-10T18:35:01.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "For Most Americans, Financial Success Now Means Being Debt-Free", "articleSection": "Debt", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2025/11/News-Americans-Success-Debt-Free.jpg", "width": 1360, "height": 908, "caption": "News-Americans-Success-Debt-Free" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adam Hardy", "url": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/#author", "description": "Adam Hardy is a lead data journalist at Money, where he frequently reports on financial barriers that affect low-income Americans. 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