When I dialed up a longtime financial adviser in New York this week and asked whether the latest household debt numbers worried him, he paused. “Back in 2015, nobody was worried,” he said. “Delinquencies were low. Housing felt stable. Credit was expanding, but it didn’t feel dangerous.” The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s latest Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit shows US household debt climbing to $18.8 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2025, up$191 billion from the previous quarter and $ ...