The New Year has begun, and millions of Americans have resolved to get their finances in better shape for 2014. But if you're trapped under a mountain of debt, it's hard to conceive of building up a big investment portfolio until you pay off everything you owe.
In the following video, Dan Caplinger, The Motley Fool's director of investment planning, gives some tips on how to get out of debt in 2014. Dan points out that the first step is figuring out how much you owe, which you can find out by getting a copy of your free credit report from annualcreditreport.com. Then, find out how much in interest you pay on each of your debts. Dan notes that typically, credit cards will have the highest rates, followed by mortgages and student loans. Finally, Dan suggests talking to credit card companies about lowering your rates. With 0% interest rates from Bank of America (BAC 3.31%), Citigroup (C 1.20%), and American Express (AXP 5.35%) among others, there's enough competition in credit cards to give you some leverage. Dan concludes that if you want to get out of debt in 2014, you can -- just by following these simple rules.
