--- title: Americans Are Increasingly Worried About Missing Monthly Debt Payments description: Consumers have a decreasing level of confidence in their ability to make minimum debt payments for loans and credit cards. authors: - name: Pete Grieve role: Lead News Reporter url: https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/ bio: Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter at Money who frequently writes about news and trends related to car buying, auto insurance and gas prices. education: University of Chicago, BA Political Science at_money_since: 2022 articles: 602 covers: - Personal Finance - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://twitter.com/pete_grieve - https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138 - https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4 editors: - name: Julia Glum role: Managing Editor url: https://money.com/author/julia-glum/ bio: Julia Glum joined Money in 2018 and specializes in covering financial trends that affect everyday Americans' wallets. She also writes Dollar Scholar, a weekly newsletter that teaches young adults how to navigate the messy world of money. education: University of Florida at_money_since: 2018 articles: 453 covers: - Personal Finance - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - Newsweek - International Business Times - CBS News - Good Morning America - WUSA9 - Pix 11 - The New York Times - Mashable - The Washington Post - CNBC - Politico social: - https://x.com/superjulia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum published: '2024-09-10T20:43:01.000Z' modified: '2025-12-10T18:42:25.000Z' section: Personal Finance tags: - News word_count: 572 canonical: https://money.com/americans-worried-missing-debt-payments/ 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/). ![A person climbing up a stack of papers with a calendar of bills in the background](https://img.money.com/2024/09/News-Worried-Debt-Payments.jpg) Americans are growing more concerned about missing debt payments and entering [delinquency](https://money.com/credit-card-delinquencies-high-federal-reserve/) as high prices and interest rates weigh on borrowers. New [survey data](https://www.newyorkfed.org/newsevents/news/research/2024/20240909) from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed a decreasing level of confidence among consumers in their ability to make the minimum debt payments for loans and credit cards. In August, the average perceived probability of missing a payment over the next three months was 13.6%. That was the highest reading in over four years. It’s also an increase from 11.1% a year ago and 13.3% a month ago. According to a [separate release](https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g19/20240909/g19.pdf) of Federal Reserve data on Tuesday, total consumer debt increased by $25.5 billion month over month, which was the largest increase since November 2022. ## 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-worried-missing-debt-payments%2F) Young Americans seem to be in the worst shape as far as keeping up with their debt payments. Here are consumers’ perceived probabilities of missing a payment in the next three months, broken down by age: - **Under 40**: 18.51% - **Ages 40 to 60**: 15.01% - **Over 60**: 8.55% The survey also found that many people with lower incomes are at risk of missing payments. Among those earning less than $50,000, the perceived chances of missing a payment are nearly 20%, according to the New York Fed. People earning over $100,000 have a better grip on their debt obligations, with only a 6.4% chance of missing a payment. ## Consumers have mixed economic expectations In addition to looking at debt, the New York Fed's survey takes the pulse of consumer expectations on other topics, including inflation and the job market. Even though inflation has largely cooled, it’s still on the minds of many Americans. Elevated goods and services prices are challenging budgets — likely part of the reason that consumers are worried about keeping up with their debt payments. Americans said they expect prices in the economy to rise between 2.5% and 3% annually over the next 1 to 5 years. That’s roughly in line with the current rate of inflation — 2.9% as of July — and would be an improvement from the much-higher rates observed in 2022 through the first half of last year. Consumers said they expect their earnings to grow at a rate of 2.9% over the next year, but they also expect their household spending to increase 5%. ## What to do if you can't afford a minimum debt payment Borrowers should avoid missing minimum payments at all costs. If you don't pay a loan or a [credit card](https://money.com/best-credit-cards/), your credit score will likely take a major hit, and your account could go to collections. If you're facing a temporary financial hardship, communicate with your lender and see if they can offer you any flexibility to pay at a later time. Credit card minimum payments are often only $25 to $50 per month. It's crucial to make that payment even if you can't pay your full balance, or else you'll face late fees and hurt your credit. [Personal loans](https://money.com/best-personal-loans/) and other lending options could help you afford your payments in a pinch, but taking on more debt is likely not a long-term solution to your problems. Budgeting, growing your income and building up an emergency fund can help you get to a sustainable financial situation. ## 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-worried-missing-debt-payments%2F) ![](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-worried-missing-debt-payments%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/americans-worried-missing-debt-payments/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Personal Finance", "item": "https://money.com/personal-finance/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "News", "item": "https://money.com/tag/news/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Americans Are Increasingly Worried About Missing Monthly Debt Payments" } ] }, { "@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-worried-missing-debt-payments/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/americans-worried-missing-debt-payments/", "name": "Americans Are Increasingly Worried About Missing Monthly Debt Payments", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2024-09-10T20:43:01.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/americans-worried-missing-debt-payments/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/americans-worried-missing-debt-payments/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2025-12-10T18:42:25.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Americans Are Increasingly Worried About Missing Monthly Debt Payments", "articleSection": "Personal Finance", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2024/09/News-Worried-Debt-Payments.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-Worried-Debt-Payments" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pete Grieve", "url": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/#author", "description": "Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter at Money who frequently writes about news and trends related to car buying, auto insurance and gas prices.", "image": "https://img.money.com/2023/02/peter.png?w=350&h=430&crop=1", "email": "peter.grieve@money.com", "jobTitle": "Lead News Reporter", "alumniOf": "University of Chicago, BA Political Science", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/pete_grieve", "https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138", "https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4" ], "worksFor": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2024-09-10T20:43:01.000Z", "description": "Consumers have a decreasing level of confidence in their ability to make minimum debt payments for loans and credit cards.", "abstract": "Consumers have a decreasing level of confidence in their ability to make minimum debt payments for loans and credit cards.", "@id": "https://money.com/americans-worried-missing-debt-payments/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2025-12-10T18:42:25.000Z", "editor": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Julia Glum", "url": "https://money.com/author/julia-glum/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/julia-glum/#author", "description": "Julia Glum joined Money in 2018 and specializes in covering financial trends that affect everyday Americans' wallets. 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