1 in 4 millennia have a credit card debt for at least a year – here's why

"These are tough statistics," told CNBC's MakeBC, Ted Rossman, an industry badyst for CreditCards.com. This is especially true in the current context, where the average credit card APR is 17.57%.

"With credit card rates at record levels, it's going very fast," says Rossman. That's because credit cards, like retirement accounts, use compound interest, which can play both for and against you, he says.

In the case of your retirement accounts, compound interest is a good thing because you earn money faster (because you simply earn interest on your interest). But on credit cards, compound interest can grow your debt so quickly.

"You do not want this to drag out again and again," says Rossman. The average household with a credit card debt owes about $ 5,700, while the under 35 household owes $ 5,808. If you paid the minimum on a $ 5,000 debt at the current average interest rate, you would be in debt for more than 18 years and pay about $ 11,400 in interest, says Rossman.