Debt, Consumer Debt | featured news

After a long period of consumer retrenchment, U.S. families have cut their once-out-of-control debt loads down to pre-recession levels, largely removing one major obstacle to a faster economic recovery.

The financial shocks that began in 2007 prompted a lot of Americans to change their free-spending ways, especially when it came to taking on debt. Several years on, some Americans may be reversing course, either by choice or necessity.

Latest signs spur caution optimism. Stock market rising; Americans paying off debt.

Total student loan debt exceeds total credit card debt in this country, with $850 billion outstanding, according to Mark Kantrowitz, publisher ...