Short-term debt is typically defined as loans that are scheduled to be paid within 12 months. Most often, this is your credit card, a pay-day loan, or another personal loan. These are debts that are best if they are paid off as quickly as possible. 

One of the best ways to handle short-term debt is to organize the debt accounts.

One way is to organize the debt by the interest rate and pay off the higher interest rate debt first. Another way is to organize the debt is by the amount and pay off the smaller amounts first. This gives you a nice psychological boost by checking off a paid-down debt. Most often, the goal is to remove yourself from high-interest debt, even at the expense of contributing to your retirement accounts.

There are also opportunities to consolidate debt. For example, if you have multiple high-interest rate credit cards with debt you are trying to pay down, you can look for options to consolidate. Perhaps to a lower interest card, HELOC, mortgage refinance, etc. Talk with your financial advisor today about how you can efficiently pay off your debt and increase your opportunity to grow wealth.