Debt is such a broad subject. We have many forms of and reasons for debt. We go into debt for just about everything beyond daily expenses these days, and some even put daily expenses on loans through credit cards by paying only the minimum payment each month while shopping with the cards.
To keep this comment short, I'll address only credit card debt. I would hope that anybody nearing retirement is carrying very little or no credit card balances.
I'll start with cash advances. When you take out a cash advance from a credit card, you pay the advance fee, if any, and then pay the higher cash-rate interest every day from the time you take the money out. Any outstanding balance also accrues interest every day when you don't pay the full debt, including any interest accrued.
After you have taken a cash advance or have carried a balance, when you get your statement and you pay the full amount showing, you still haven't paid off the debt. The statement only includes interest up to the date when the credit card company figured the balance - the Statement Date. From that date until they credit your account with your next payment, they are still charging daily interest on the balance. You still owe them the interest accrued between the Statement Date and the day they receive and credit your payment.
At one point in my experience, I found out the hard way about the way this works. It took me about 3 months to pay off my debt by paying off the balance shown on my statements. Each statement included the interest up to the Statement Date, but didn't show accruals after that. After I paid the first statement, the interest was accruing only on interest that had started accruing between the Statement Date and when I paid it, so I ultimately paid interest on interest on interest on interest. They were still making money on their charges after I had paid my debt - my principal and interest through the first Statement Date.
If you want to pay off a credit card, you need to call the company and find out how much the balance will be when your payment clears their facility or just figure it yourself and pay more than the statement shows based on when your payment will clear. If you pay more than the principal plus interest when your payment clears, then the credit card company will apply the surplus toward the next statement or refund it to you on request.
One final tip: If you have balances on several loans, pay the minimums on all but the loan with the highest interest rate, and then pay all you can toward that highest-rate loan. When that one is paid off, hit the next highest-rate loan in turn, and do not decrease the amounts you pay on all your debt. For example, if you pay $2,000 per month on all your loans, then keep paying $2,000 per month on all your loans as you pay them down until you pay them all off.
My Dad used to say, "Paid for is a good color." He was usually talking about cars, but the statement applies to any debt. With plastic, that's the color we need to work toward no matter what credit cards we carry.
Stay well and enjoy!
