Question

PLZ HElP You have two credit cards. Card 1 has a current balance of $8,312.69 with an APR of 24.16%, and the credit limit on the card is $10,000. Card 2 has a current balance of $1,180.34 with an APR of 21.15%, and the credit limit on the card is $7,500. In your own words, tell which credit card you should focus on paying off first and why. Be sure to include the credit card AND the reason for paying that card off first. 4Points Answer using complete sentences.

Answer 1

• Card 1
• it has the higher interest rate

Explanation:

The usual advice offered for a situation of this sort is to pay off the card with the highest interest rate first. Here, that is Card 1. So, an appropriate answer is ...

Pay off Card 1 first because it has the higher interest rate.

_____

Comment on this answer

There are some well-respected financial advisors who recommend paying off the lower balance first (Card 2), while making minimum payments on other accounts (Card 1). This has the psychological benefit of both quickly reducing debt and reducing the number of outstanding accounts. Then, the money that was being paid to Card 2 can be added to that being applied to Card 1. This approach is referred to as the "debt snowball" because the amounts that can be applied to the larger debt keep getting bigger as the smaller debts are paid.