If you think you’re ‘middle class' you’re probably wrong. Half of Americans are ‘treading water’: How to come up for air

Avalanche: Start with clearing your most substantial debt, then, once it’s settled, use the windfall to aggressively pay down any smaller debts.Snowball: Knock off your smaller debts one at a time to build up momentum — and income — to put towards your biggest debt.Reducing debt, especially consumer debt, could be a great way to secure yourself financially. In 2024, there were 494,201 personal bankruptcy filings in the U.S. — over 60,000 more than the previous year, according to Debt.org (5). Two general st ...