Kill high-interest debt
Debt over ~8% is a guaranteed loss — paying it off returns the rate, risk-free.
Priority Matrix
The numbers.
Four dimensions, scored 1–6, where six is always the good end: cheapest, quickest, easiest, highest impact. Priority is Impact squared, divided by what it costs you in energy, money and time.
How sure we are
Kept separate from the priority score on purpose: confidence in the evidence never raises how worth-it something is.
What we read
- The relationship between personal unsecured debt and mental and physical health: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Clinical Psychology Review (Richardson, Elliott & Roberts) · 2013
Across 65 studies covering nearly 34,000 people, those in unsecured debt were over three times more likely to have a mental disorder (pooled OR 3.24) and nearly three times more likely to be depressed (OR 2.77) — a strong, consistent association, not proof of causation.
- The high price of debt: Household financial debt and its impact on mental and physical health
Social Science & Medicine (Sweet et al.) · 2013
Among 8,400 US adults aged 24-32, owing more than you could pay off by selling everything predicted 11.7% higher perceived stress, 13.2% more depressive symptoms, worse self-rated health, and ~1 mmHg higher diastolic blood pressure after controlling for prior health and socioeconomic status — real but modest at the individual level.
- Reducing debt improves psychological functioning and changes decision-making in the poor
PNAS (Ong, Theseira & Ng) · 2019
When an unanticipated debt-relief program paid down the debts of low-income Singaporeans, the share showing generalized-anxiety symptoms fell from 78% to 53% and cognitive-test performance improved — quasi-experimental evidence that removing debt itself, not just having money, relieves the mental load.
- Consumer Credit — G.19 (Terms of Credit)
Federal Reserve · 2026
The average interest rate on credit-card accounts actually being charged interest is 22.15% (June 2026), so every dollar of balance you clear earns a guaranteed, risk-free return no investment can promise.
Research from University of Southampton · Northwestern University · National University of Singapore · Federal Reserve. We cite their published work. They have no involvement with Anew.
Where this falls down
The guaranteed part is the money; the health part is probable, not proven. The 3x mental-disorder association is largely cross-sectional and runs both ways — poor mental health also causes debt.
The one causal-ish study (anxiety 78%→53%) was charity-funded debt relief for low-income Singaporeans, not self-directed paydown. Physical effects in cohort data are modest: ~1 mmHg diastolic blood pressure, ~12-13% higher stress and depressive-symptom scores.
Applies only if you carry high-interest debt. Avalanche (highest APR first) is mathematically optimal, but adherence beats optimization — if small wins keep you paying, snowball is fine.
Debt under ~8% (mortgages, subsidized loans) is a genuinely debatable question and not what this card is about.
Topics
Where it fits.
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