Ahead of every major holiday, you may want to invest in Affirm Holdings (AFRM) – especially with Americans racking up substantial debt.

Household debt exploded to $18.6 trillion during the third quarter of 2025. 

Of that, $13.07 trillion was in mortgage debt, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s report on household debt and credit. Credit card and auto balances sat at $1.23 trillion and $1.66 trillion, respectively. Student loan balances jumped by $15 billion to $1.65 trillion.

According to MarketWatch, “Home loans are where borrowers could see the most significant savings on interest if rates drop in the new year. For the average new loan amount of around $370,000 with 6.3% interest, a 25-basis-point cut could save homeowners $929 in interest in a year, according to TransUnion calculations. A 1-percentage-point cut (100 basis points) would mean $3,715 in savings.”

As a result, more Americans are turning to buy now, pay later borrowing.

According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, “Among consumers with a credit record, 21.2 percent financed at least one purchase with a BNPL loan, up from 17.6 percent in 2021. About 20 percent of borrowers in 2022 were heavy users originating more than one BNPL loan on average each month, an increase from 18 percent in 2021. The average number of originations per borrower increased from 8.5 to 9.5.”

Happy Holidays to you and yours!  All the best.

Sincerely,

Ian Cooper