The next financial crisis could be your own

We all seem to be on the lookout for clues that we're on the verge of another widespread financial crisis.

The memories from the debacle a decade ago are so bad that no one wants to be caught by surprise again. 

So many wonder: Is it a sign that a recession is looming because December's retail sales were weak and just posted the biggest drop in nine years? Should we be focused on worries that the United States will be hurt by a global industrial slowdown? What about student loan debt? Delinquent car loans?

Yet maybe we should tune into what's next for us, rather than the economy. What are the odds that we could be facing our own personal financial fallout? 

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Are you juggling so much debt – and so many bills – that you're not prepared for your own financial shock? What would happen after a medical emergency? A divorce? A job loss? 

Some of the U.S. economic numbers, no doubt, give one reason to pause.

Total household debt in the U.S. hit $13.54 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2018. (Photo: Getty Images)

Consumer debt at all-time high

Consumer debt in total hit a little more than $4 trillion – the largest amount ever – as of December 2018, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve. That includes auto loans, student loans, personal loans, credit cards but not mortgages. 

A record number of consumers – some 178.6 million at the end of 2018 – now have access to a credit card, according to a new report by TransUnion. 

Nearly 430 million credit cards are in circulation – up nearly 13 percent from the end of 2015. 

The average credit card debt per borrower is $5,736 – up about 7.5 percent from 2015, according to TransUnion.

In the past year or so, 4 million more people gained access to a credit card.

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Paul Siegfried, senior vice president and credit card business leader at TransUnion, called the uptick as sign of deliberate growth in a fiercely competitive credit card industry.

"Issuers are very deliberate in how they extend credit based upon the market competition," Siegfried said. 

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On average, Americans owe $6,354 on bank-issued credit cards. At the state level, average credit card debt per capita varies substantially. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the average bank card balance from creditcards.com to identify the states with the most credit card debt. SIphotography / Getty ImagesFullscreen1. Alaska• Average credit card balance: $8,515• Cost of living: 5.4 percent more than Average• Average credit score: 668• Average number of cards: 2.9 Chilkoot / Getty ImagesFullscreen2. Connecticut• Average credit card balance: $7,258• Cost of living: 8.7 percent more than Average• Average credit score: 690• Average number of cards: 3.2 SeanPavonePhoto / Getty ImagesFullscreen3. Virginia• Average credit card balance: $7,161• Cost of living: 2.3 percent more than Average• Average credit score: 680• Average number of cards: 3.1 SeanPavonePhoto / Getty ImagesFullscreen4. New Jersey• Average credit card balance: $7,151• Cost of living: 13.2 percent more than Average• Average credit score: 686• Average number of cards: 3.5 SeanPavonePhoto / Getty ImagesFullscreen5. Maryland• Average credit card balance: $7,043• Cost of living: 9.5 percent more than Average• Average credit score: 672• Average number of cards: 3.2 SeanPavonePhoto / Getty ImagesFullscreen6. Hawaii• Average credit card balance: $6,981• Cost of living: 18.4 percent more than Average• Average credit score: 693• Average number of cards: 3.3 Eric Tessmer / Wikimedia CommonsFullscreen7. Texas• Average credit card balance: $6,902• Cost of living: 3.1 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 656• Average number of cards: 3.1 RoschetzkyIstockPhoto / Getty ImagesFullscreen8. Colorado• Average credit card balance: $6,718• Cost of living: 3 percent more than Average• Average credit score: 688• Average number of cards: 3.1 f11photo / Getty ImagesFullscreen9. Georgia• Average credit card balance: $6,675• Cost of living: 7.9 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 654• Average number of cards: 3.0 Sean Pavone / Getty ImagesFullscreen10. New York• Average credit card balance: $6,671 • Cost of living: 15.6 percent more than Average • Average credit score: 688 • Average number of cards: 3.3 Terabass / Wikimedia CommonsFullscreen11. Washington• Average credit card balance: $6,592• Cost of living: 5.5 percent more than Average• Average credit score: 693• Average number of cards: 3.0 evenfh / Shutterstock.comFullscreen12. New Hampshire• Average credit card balance: $6,490• Cost of living: 5.9 percent more than Average• Average credit score: 701• Average number of cards: 3.1 Sean Pavone / Getty ImagesFullscreen13. California• Average credit card balance: $6,481• Cost of living: 14.4 percent more than Average• Average credit score: 680• Average number of cards: 3.2 Art Wager / Getty ImagesFullscreen14. Illinois• Average credit card balance: $6,410• Cost of living: 1.1 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 683• Average number of cards: 3.1 lhongfoto / Getty ImagesFullscreen15. Nevada• Average credit card balance: $6,401• Cost of living: 2.6 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 655• Average number of cards: 3.2 f11photo / Getty ImagesFullscreen16. Arizona• Average credit card balance: $6,389• Cost of living: 4.1 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 669• Average number of cards: 3.0 Zereshk / Wikimedia CommonsFullscreen17. Florida• Average credit card balance: $6,388• Cost of living: 0.3 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 668• Average number of cards: 3.2 Sean Pavone / Getty ImagesFullscreen18. Rhode Island• Average credit card balance: $6,375• Cost of living: 0.4 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 687• Average number of cards: 3.3 SeanPavonePhoto / Getty ImagesFullscreen19. Delaware• Average credit card balance: $6,366• Cost of living: 0.2 percent more than Average• Average credit score: 672• Average number of cards: 3.1 DenisTangneyJr / Getty ImagesFullscreen20. Massachusetts• Average credit card balance: $6,327• Cost of living: 7.8 percent more than Average• Average credit score: 699• Average number of cards: 3.2 Sean Pavone / Getty ImagesFullscreen21. New Mexico• Average credit card balance: $6,317• Cost of living: 6.4 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 659• Average number of cards: 2.8 DenisTangneyJr / Getty ImagesFullscreen22. Oklahoma• Average credit card balance: $6,296• Cost of living: 11 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 656• Average number of cards: 2.7 Majestic_Aerials / Getty ImagesFullscreen23. Wyoming• Average credit card balance: $6,245• Cost of living: 3.3 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 678• Average number of cards: 2.8 undefined undefined / Getty ImagesFullscreen24. South Carolina• Average credit card balance: $6,157• Cost of living: 9.7 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 657• Average number of cards: 2.9 Sean Pavone / Getty ImagesFullscreen25. Pennsylvania• Average credit card balance: $6,146• Cost of living: 1.6 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 687• Average number of cards: 3.1 f11photo / Getty ImagesFullscreen26. North Carolina• Average credit card balance: $6,117• Cost of living: 9.1 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 666• Average number of cards: 3.0 Sean Pavone / Getty ImagesFullscreen27. Kansas• Average credit card balance: $6,082• Cost of living: 9.5 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 680• Average number of cards: 2.8 ricardoreitmeyer / Getty ImagesFullscreen28. Louisiana• Average credit card balance: $6,074• Cost of living: 9.6 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 650• Average number of cards: 2.8 GregJK / Getty ImagesFullscreen29. Oregon• Average credit card balance: $6,012• Cost of living: 0.2 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 688• Average number of cards: 3.0 4nadia / Getty ImagesFullscreen30. Tennessee• Average credit card balance: $5,975• Cost of living: 9.8 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 662• Average number of cards: 2.8 SeanPavonePhoto / Getty ImagesFullscreen31. Alabama• Average credit card balance: $5,961• Cost of living: 13.4 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 654• Average number of cards: 2.7 SeanPavonePhoto / Getty ImagesFullscreen32. Utah• Average credit card balance: $5,960• Cost of living: 2.7 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 683• Average number of cards: 3.0 johnnya123 / Getty ImagesFullscreen33. Vermont• Average credit card balance: $5,924• Cost of living: 1.6 percent more than Average• Average credit score: 702• Average number of cards: 2.9 Sean Pavone / Getty ImagesFullscreen34. Minnesota• Average credit card balance: $5,911• Cost of living: 2.5 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 709• Average number of cards: 3.0 RudyBalasko / Getty ImagesFullscreen35. Missouri• Average credit card balance: $5,897• Cost of living: 10.5 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 675• Average number of cards: 2.9 f11photo / Getty ImagesFullscreen36. Montana• Average credit card balance: $5,845• Cost of living: 5.9 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 689• Average number of cards: 2.9 TheBigMK / Getty ImagesFullscreen37. Ohio• Average credit card balance: $5,843• Cost of living: 10.7 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 678• Average number of cards: 3.0 Sean Pavone / Getty ImagesFullscreen38. Idaho• Average credit card balance: $5,817• Cost of living: 7 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 681• Average number of cards: 2.9 knowlesgallery / Getty ImagesFullscreen39. Maine• Average credit card balance: $5,784• Cost of living: 1.6 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 689• Average number of cards: 2.9 SeanPavonePhoto / Getty ImagesFullscreen40. South Dakota• Average credit card balance: $5,692• Cost of living: 11.7 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 700• Average number of cards: 2.8 EunikaSopotnicka / Getty ImagesFullscreen41. Arkansas• Average credit card balance: $5,660• Cost of living: 13.1 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 657• Average number of cards: 2.8 Belinda Hankins Miller from U.S.A., upload by Herrick 10:33, 15 November 2007 (UTC) / Wikimedia CommonsFullscreen42. Nebraska• Average credit card balance: $5,630• Cost of living: 9.5 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 695• Average number of cards: 2.8 ChrisBoswell / Getty ImagesFullscreen43. Michigan• Average credit card balance: $5,622 • Cost of living: 6.7 percent less than Average • Average credit score: 677 • Average number of cards: 2.9 pawel.gaul / Getty ImagesFullscreen44. Indiana• Average credit card balance: $5,581• Cost of living: 9.7 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 667• Average number of cards: 2.8 f11photo / Getty ImagesFullscreenBlogThis!