DEBT IS NOT THE SOLUTION
- Treavor Dodsworth CFP®, CPA, CKA®
- Feb 28
- 1 min read
Updated: Mar 7
The number of ads I see that present debt or an increased credit score as the solution is frustrating. While there may be reasonable situations to utilize debt, debt should first be seen as bondage before it is considered a solution.

Proverbs 22:7b says "the borrower is slave to the lender." Anyone who has had debt understands this to be true. That car is exciting for several months but a few years into the auto loan and it starts to feel more like bondage.
Americans are increasingly enslaved to debt as shown in these charts from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Credit card debt at the end of Q4 2024 was $1.21 trillion. Auto loans at the end of Q4 2024 was $1.66 trillion. There are only about 133 million households in the United States- that's over $20,000 in combined debt per household, just from credit cards and auto loans alone! On top of that you would add student loans, personal loans, mortgages, and more.
An increased credit score can help you secure more affordable auto insurance rates or find housing more easily but the primary purpose of a credit score is to determine your credit worthiness- how likely you are to repay a loan. Therefore it is possible that a higher credit score may end up resulting in bigger financial handcuffs.
The next time you see a commercial promising debt as the solution to your financial future see it for what it is: someone is trying to put you in chains- don't let them.