My Only Prediction for 2026: Life Will Cost You More than 2025

Friends and even news outlets have asked me for my 2026 financial predictions. I typically avoid the question, because Debt.com’s clients don’t really care about the stock markets, global trade, or gross domestic product.

They care about paying their bills and shedding their debts. So here’s my sole prediction: Both will be harder next year.

The numbers tell the story

As The Wall Street Journal reported last week…

• Rents and mortgages “have risen by 3.6% over the past year.”
• Home-insurance premiums will “rise by 8% on average this year across the 50 states."
• “Average electricity costs have risen 11% since January.”
• “The average price of ground roast coffee in September was $9.14 a pound, up from $6.47 a year earlier.”
• “Ground beef, at $6.64 a pound in September, was up 12.3% from a year earlier.”

The Journal also reported this prediction from the CEO of Omaha Steak: “Ground beef could cost $10 a pound by next year.”

Inflation right now is hovering around 3%, certainly much better than its 40-year high of 9.1% back in 2022. But 3% still hurts. Think about it this way: If inflation is 3%, prices will double in 24 years. If it’s 2%, prices won’t double for 36 years.

Most people don’t understand the cumulative pain that inflation inflicts. They do, however, know something is wrong. A poll last week from a company called Achieve asked Americans for their predictions for 2026. Among them:

• “67% of respondents expect the cost of groceries to get worse.”
• “44% expect tariffs to have a negative impact on their household budget.”
• “43% of Americans are delaying or avoiding large purchases.”

How we pay for inflation

So I don’t think it’s a wild prediction to insist life will get costlier in 2026. It certainly won’t get cheaper. Yet Americans head into the new year carrying over $1.2 trillion on their credit cards. That’s an average of nearly $7,000 per person.

Study after study has shown that when prices rise, so do our credit card balances. It’s not hard to figure out why. Most of us don’t have a lot of slack in our household budgets, and credit cards are the easiest form of financing we have. That financing comes at a steep price. Average credit card interest rates are well over 20% right now – and they probably won’t go down next year.

That means for every $5 you carry on your cards, you’re paying $1 in interest. That makes it even harder to pay down those balances, even if inflation returns to zero – which no expert is predicting. The Federal Reserve is hoping for 2%, which will still bite into Americans’ budgets.

The 2026 solution

If you’ve read this far, you might be thinking, “This guy is really depressing.” But I actually look forward to 2026, because I know there’s a way off the debt treadmill in 2026. Companies like Debt.com will become even more important next year, because they can cure your personal debt with a variety of treatments, ranging from debt management to debt settlement.

Of course, I believe Debt.com is the best of those companies, because we’ve been doing it longer – over a decade – and it’s the only thing we do. (Other companies help you get out of debt, but it’s just part of a larger operation that also issues loans and tries to sell you other services. We only want to get you out of debt, period.)

But you can get a head start on making 2026 a happy year by calling us today. If you do, I’ll make one final prediction: By 2027, you’ll be smiling about your finances.