Robert F Kennedy JR, who is in the running to serve as health and human services secretary, revealed he was carrying up to $1.2 million in credit card debt

Americans’ credit card balances hit an all-time high of $1.17 trillion in 2024 — and even wealthy individuals aren’t immune from accumulating significant debt.

One notable example is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s nominee for Health and Human Services secretary, who recently disclosed credit card debt of up to $1.2 million in his financial filings.

According to the disclosure, Kennedy’s balances range between $610,000 and $1.2 million, with interest rates from 23.24% to 23.49%.

Experts Say Balances This High Are Rare

“That’s a truly massive amount of credit card debt,” said Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate.

Carolyn McClanahan, a certified financial planner and founder of Life Planning Partners, reviewed the filing and was surprised by the high balance. “He has a lot of income, so I don’t even know why you’d carry that much debt if you have that kind of income,” she said.

Kennedy was not immediately available for comment.

Whether for high-net-worth individuals like Kennedy, whose estimated net worth is around $30 million, or for average Americans, financial experts agree that ongoing credit card debt can be costly and is best avoided when possible.

Credit Cards as a ‘De Facto Emergency Fund’

As inflation has surged in recent years, many consumers have found it increasingly difficult to avoid carrying credit card debt.

“With inflation being so powerful and so stubborn, it’s just shrunk a lot of people’s financial wiggle room down to zero,” said Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree. “Americans look at credit cards as a kind of de facto emergency fund.”

Because financial disclosures are essentially snapshots, it’s unclear whether Kennedy pays his balances in full each month. However, if he’s making $50,000 monthly payments toward his lower estimated balance of $610,000, it would take him 15 months to pay it off, costing him around $93,000 in interest, according to a Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas calculator.

If the balance is closer to $1.2 million, it would take 33 months to pay off at that rate and cost roughly $434,000 in interest.

The Cost of Credit Card Debt

For the average household, the burden of credit card debt can be just as significant. As of the third quarter of 2024, the average credit card balance per borrower was $6,380, according to TransUnion. The average interest rate on those balances stands at 20.13%, according to Bankrate.

Many consumers are also managing other types of debt. In 2024, average unsecured debt (excluding mortgages and auto loans) rose 8% to $29,364, according to Money Management International.

Paying Down Debt Provides a ‘Guaranteed Return’

Experts agree that paying off high-interest credit card debt should be a top financial priority.

“If you’re paying down credit card debt at 20%, that’s a guaranteed risk-free, tax-free return,” said Rossman. “You’re unlikely to get that much from your investments.”

Bankrate’s research shows that higher-income individuals are more likely to carry long-term credit card debt. Among borrowers earning $100,000 or more, 59% reported being in debt for at least a year, with 24% saying they had been in credit card debt for five years or more.

“Higher-income people often have access to higher credit limits, and sometimes that gets people into trouble,” Rossman added.