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How long will it take to pay off $30,000 in credit card debt?
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Carrying around a heavy burden of credit card debt can feel suffocating, especially in the current economic climate. After all, the ongoing inflationary issues we’re facing have led the Federal Reserve to keep rates paused at a 23-year high, meaning that annual percentage rates (APRs) on credit cards are much higher than they were just a few years ago. In fact, the average credit card APR is currently 21.59%, according to Federal Reserve data.
With credit card rates that high, every missed or minimum payment you make causes compounding interest charges to spiral. In turn, digging your way out of a high card balance requires persistence — and in many cases, it also requires you to utilize strategies beyond just making standard payments.
That compounding credit card interest means that it can also take a lot of time to pay off what you owe, whether your balance is $5,000 or $50,000. But how long will it take to pay off $30,000 in credit card debt at today’s average rate? Let’s find out.
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How long will it take to pay off $30,000 in credit card debt?
Let’s look at some payoff scenarios for $30,000 in credit card debt at 21.59% interest:
The minimum payment approach
If you only make the minimum payment each month, it will take about 460 months, or about 38 years, to pay off that $30,000 balance. And, you’ll pay a staggering $54,359.80 in interest charges along the way, which means the interest you pay will be well above the original principal balance you started with.
Paying 2.5% of the balance (with interest)
If you opt to pay 2.5% of the balance each month on a $30,000 credit card bill, it will take 658 months, or about 55 years, to pay off your balance. And, you’ll pay $81,340.93 in total interest charges over that time, which is about 2.5 times the amount of your original balance.
Paying 5.0% of the balance (with interest)
If you’re able to pay about 5% of the balance each month on a $30,000 credit card bill, it will take 169 months, or about 14 years, to pay off your balance. You’ll also pay $17,271.80 in total interest charges over the 14-year time frame.
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How to pay off $30,000 in credit card debt quickly
The more you can dedicate monthly to paying down your credit card balances, the faster you’ll get out of debt and the less you’ll pay in interest charges over the long run. Of course, committing to payments of thousands of dollars per month may not be feasible for everyone’s budget.
So what other options can help expedite getting out from under $30,000 in credit card debt? Here are some potential strategies to consider:
Use a debt consolidation loan
With a debt consolidation loan, you take out a new fixed-rate loan to pay off all your credit card balances. This consolidates multiple payments into one, ideally at a lower interest rate than you were paying on credit cards. For example, a 5-year, $30,000 loan at 10% interest would have a monthly payment of about $637 and you’d pay about $8,245 in total interest.
Enroll in a debt consolidation program
Similar to a debt consolidation loan, a debt consolidation program consolidates your debts with a lower-rate loan. These loans and programs are typically offered by debt relief companies and can be a smart way to pay off large card balances, but you’ll typically need a high credit score and a solid borrower profile to qualify.
Take advantage of a debt management plan
With a debt management plan through a debt relief agency, the experts at the company will try to negotiate lower interest rates and fees with your creditors on your behalf. You then make a single payment to the debt relief agency, which disperses funds to your creditors.
Opt for debt settlement
A debt settlement program aims to negotiate lump sum payoffs for less than the full balance owed through professional negotiation. These programs are typically offered by debt relief companies and can make it easier and faster to pay off high balances on your credit card. However, this option requires you to show financial hardship and can damage your credit score. The settled debt is also considered taxable income.
Use a balance transfer card
Some borrowers may qualify for a 0% or low APR balance transfer credit card promotion, which allows you to transfer your credit card balances and avoid interest for a specific period of time. This lets you aggressively pay down principal balances without the extra interest charges.
The bottom line
If you’re just paying the minimum on a $30,000 credit card balance each month, it can take many years to pay off what you owe — and at today’s average credit card rate, the interest charges can easily outweigh the original balance. Ultimately, the key to paying off high-balance credit card debt as quickly as possible is consistently paying more than the minimum due each month and potentially utilizing strategies to reduce the interest rates being charged. After all, the faster that balance can be paid down, the less you’ll pay in total interest.
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill Saturday that would have required new cars to beep at drivers if they exceed the speed limit in an effort to reduce traffic deaths.
California would have become the first to require such systems for all new cars, trucks and buses sold in the state starting in 2030. The bill would have mandated that vehicles beep at drivers when they exceed the speed limit by at least 10 mph.
The European Union has passed similar legislation to encourage drivers to slow down. California’s proposal would have provided exceptions for emergency vehicles, motorcycles and motorized scooters.
In explaining his veto, Newsom said federal law already dictates vehicle safety standards and adding California-specific requirements would create a patchwork of regulations.
The National Highway Traffic Safety “is also actively evaluating intelligent speed assistance systems, and imposing state-level mandates at this time risks disrupting these ongoing federal assessments,” the Democratic governor said.
Opponents, including automotive groups and the state Chamber of Commerce, said such regulations should be decided by the federal government, which earlier this year established new requirements for automatic emergency braking to curb traffic deaths. Republican lawmakers also said the proposal could make cars more expensive and distract drivers.
The legislation would have likely impacted all new car sales in the U.S., since the California market is so large that car manufacturers would likely just make all of their vehicles comply.
California often throws that weight around to influence national and even international policy. The state has set its own emission standards for cars for decades, rules that more than a dozen other states have also adopted. And when California announced it would eventually ban the sale of new gas-powered cars, major automakers soon followed with their own announcement to phase out fossil-fuel vehicles.
Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener, who sponsored the bill, called the veto disappointing and a setback for street safety.
“California should have led on this crisis as Wisconsin did in passing the first seatbelt mandate in 1961,” Wiener said in a statement. “Instead, this veto resigns Californians to a completely unnecessary risk of fatality.”
The speeding alert technology, known as intelligent speed assistance, uses GPS to compare a vehicle’s pace with a dataset of posted limits. If the car is at least 10 mph over, the system emits a single, brief, visual and audio alert.
The proposal would have required the state to maintain a list of posted speed limits, and it’s likely that those would not include local roads or recent changes in speed limits, resulting in conflicts.
The technology has been used in the U.S. and Europe for years. Starting in July, the European Union will require all new cars to have the technology, although drivers would be able to turn it off. At least 18 manufacturers including Ford, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Nissan, have already offered some form of speed limiters on some models sold in America, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
The National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 10% of all car crashes reported to police in 2021 were related to speeding. This was especially a problem in California, where 35% of traffic fatalities were speeding-related — the second highest in the country, according to a legislative analysis of the proposal.
Last year the NTSB recommended federal regulators require all new cars to alert drivers when they speed. Their recommendation came after a crash in January 2022, when a man with a history of speeding violations ran a red light at more than 100 mph and struck a minivan, killing himself and eight other people.
