New Study Reveals What Purchases Men And Women Would Be Willing To Go Into Debt For The Most

Financial Decisions People In Debt Study

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How do most Americans approach paying off credit purchases? Good question. There are many schools of thought with regard to the repayment of debt, and it’s a topic that’s so overwhelming to many that some say they’d be willing swim in a pool of sharks just to get out of debt.

So to see which loans borrowers are most likely to regret and which purchases they’d be willing to finance in the future, our friends over at Comet Financial Intelligence surveyed over 1,000 men and women about their current debt obligations and the emotions connected to what they owe.

Here’s what they learned…

• 85% of respondents owed money on something they’d financed previously.
• The most common source of debt was a familiar culprit: credit cards.
• Women were substantially more likely to report credit card debt than their male counterparts.
• Car and home loans were also quite common sources of debt, affecting 55% and 31% of respondents respectively.
• 30% reported having student loans.
• Over a quarter of respondents had outstanding medical bills.


• Regret about student loans was most common among men and women alike.
• Nearly 24% of those surveyed who said they have student loans reported being delinquent at some point.
• Credit card debt was also a source of regret for 45% of women and 36% of men.
• Almost 1 in 5 with credit card debt reported being late on their payments in the past.
• Medical debt was most likely to produce delinquency from those surveyed.


• Respondents owed more on their homes than any other item.
• Student loans ranked second, though women owed substantially more on average than men.
• On average, women owed more on cars, credit cards, and medical bills than men.


• Roughly 94% said they’d be willing to take on mortgage debt.
• Nearly as many individuals said they’d take on medical debt or an auto loan.
• Roughly 75% of people surveyed said they’d go into debt to afford veterinary care for their pet.
• Over 62% of men would take on debt to pay for their wedding and more than 61% would go into debt to get engaged.
• Approximately half of respondents said they’d be willing to finance a vacation. (Especially among Gen Zers.)
• 48% said they’d be willing to take on debt to afford a flight


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Before settling down at BroBible, Douglas Charles, a graduate of the University of Iowa (Go Hawks), owned and operated a wide assortment of websites. He is also one of the few White Sox fans out there and thinks Michael Jordan is, hands down, the GOAT.