Rashad and Nirvanna Muhammad were already saddled with student loan debt when they married in 2005. They both earned undergraduate degrees at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona, Florida. Rashad pursued his master’s using student loans too. Add in car loans and a move to Texas, and the couple was swimming in debt. Raising children meant additional credit card debt. Even though they were both working full-time—Rashad as a principal and Nirvana as a teacher—they owed $250,000. They declared bankruptcy in 2013, but that only lowered the total to $179,000. Their debt was crushing them.
While not everyone finds themselves that far underwater, millions of Americans struggle with debt. Home mortgages aside, the average American has nearly $20,000 in debt, including credit cards, personal loans, car loans, and student loans. Gen X is the most indebted by far.
That's not an accident. Debt equals slavery is another one of our America First Economic Principles (read about some of our other pri…
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