More from Personal Finance:
28% of credit card users are paying off last year’s holiday debt
Holiday shoppers plan to spend more while taking on debt
2 in 5 cardholders have maxed out a credit card or come close

But what if they do vote to do away with the program?

“It wouldn’t be retroactive,” Mayotte said.

That means current borrowers would still be able to work toward loan forgiveness under the program.

“So, worst-case scenario, it would be for loans made on or after the date of such a law enactment,” Mayotte said.

Higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz agreed that’s how such a change would probably play out.

“Most likely the change would apply only to new borrowers,” Kantrowitz said. “Existing borrowers would be grandfathered in.”

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC.

With the PSLF help tool, borrowers can search for a list of qualifying employers and make sure they’re on track for the relief. They should also access the employer certification form at StudentAid.gov.

That form will confirm that you’re working in an eligible job and generate an updated tally of how many qualifying payments you’ve made, Kantrowitz said.

Try to fill out this form at least once a year, he added. And keep records of your confirmed qualifying payments. To get your remaining debt excused, you need 120.

Americans tend to overspend during the holiday season.

In fact, some borrowers are still paying off debt from last year’s purchases.

To that point, 28% of shoppers who used credit cards have not paid off the presents they bought for their loved ones last year, according to a holiday spending report by NerdWallet. The site polled more than 1,700 adults in September.  

However, this is a slight improvement from 2023, when 31% of credit card users had still not paid off their balances from the year before.

More from Personal Finance:
Here are the best ways to save money this holiday season
2 in 5 cardholders have maxed out a credit card or come close
Holiday shoppers plan to spend more

Growth in credit card balances has also slowed, according to a separate quarterly credit industry insights report from TransUnion released on Tuesday.

Although overall credit card balances were 6.9% higher at the end of the third quarter compared to a year earlier, that’s a significant improvement from the 15% year-over-year jump from Q3 2022 to Q3 2023, TransUnion found.

The average balance per consumer now stands at $6,329, rising only 4.8% year over year — compared to an 11.2% increase the year before and 12.4% the year before that.

“People are getting comfortable with this post-pandemic life,” said Michele Raneri, vice president and head of U.S. research and consulting at TransUnion. “As inflation has returned to more normal levels in recent months, it has also meant consumers may be less likely to rely on these credit products to make ends meet.”

Recent wage gains have also played a role, according to Paul Siegfried, TransUnion’s senior vice president and credit card business leader. Lower inflation and higher pay “may be driving consumers toward a financial equilibrium,” he said.

Still, spending between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31 is expected to increase to a record total of $979.5 billion to $989 billion, according to the National Retail Federation.

Shoppers may spend $1,778 on average, up 8% compared with last year, Deloitte’s holiday retail survey found. Most will lean on plastic: About three-quarters, 74%, of consumers plan to use credit cards to make their purchases, according to NerdWallet.

“Between buying gifts and booking peak-season travel, the holidays are an expensive time of year,” said Sara Rathner, NerdWallet’s credit cards expert. However, this time around, “shoppers are setting strict budgets and taking advantage of seasonal sales.”

“There’s no magic wand, we just have to do the hard stuff,” Candy Valentino, author of “The 9% Edge,” recently told CNBC. Mostly that means setting a budget and tracking expenses.

Valentino recommends reallocating funds from other areas — by canceling unwanted subscriptions or negotiating down utility costs — to help make room for holiday spending.

“A few hundred dollars here and there really adds up,” she said. That “stash of cash is one way to set yourself up so you are not taking on new debt.”

Valentino also advises consumers to start their holiday shopping now to take advantage of early deals and discounts or try pooling funds among family or friends to share the cost of holiday gifts.

Then, curb temptation by staying away from the mall and unsubscribing from emails, opting out of text alerts, turning off push notifications in retail apps and unfollowing brands on social, she said.

“It will lessen your need and desire to spend,” Valentino said.

If you’re starting out the holiday season debt-free, you’re in a “strong position” to take advantage of credit card rewards, Rathner said.

Credit cards that offer rewards like cash back or sign-on bonuses will offer a better return on your holiday spending, she said.

However, if you are planning on purchasing big-ticket items to work towards such bonuses, make sure you’re able to pay off the balance in full to avoid falling into holiday debt, Rathner said.

Otherwise, you may be able to consolidate into a lower interest personal loan, depending on your creditworthiness. Similarly, cardholders who keep their utilization rate — or the ratio of debt to total credit — below 30% of their available credit may benefit from a higher credit score, which paves the way to lower-cost loans and better terms.

Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.

For investors who want income, dividends may provide an answer.

Dividends are corporate profits that companies pay to shareholders in the form of either cash or stock.

In comparison to other income-paying investments — such as certificates of deposit, bonds or Treasurys — dividends may provide the opportunity for more appreciation, said Leanna Devinney, vice president and branch leader at Fidelity Investments in Hingham, Massachusetts.

“Dividends can be very attractive because they offer the opportunity for growth and income,” Devinney said.

Dividend investment options may come in the form of single company stocks or dividend-paying funds, like exchange-traded funds or mutual funds.

With individual stocks, it’s easy to see the dividend a company may offer in exchange for owning its share, Devinney said. Notably, not all companies pay dividends.

However, dividend-paying funds like ETFs or mutual funds may provide a broader exposure to dividend securities, often at lower costs, she said.

For investors who are considering putting a portion of their portfolios in dividend-paying strategies to fulfill their income-seeking goals, there are some things to consider.

High-yield dividend companies tend to have been around for decades, like Coca-Cola Co., for example.

Alternatively, investors may opt for dividend growth strategies that focus on stocks expected to consistently grow their dividends over time. Those companies tend to be somewhat younger, such as Apple or Microsoft, Sotiroff said.

To be clear, both of these strategies have trade-offs.

“The risks and rewards are a little bit different between the two,” Sotiroff said. “They can both be done well; they can both be done poorly.”

If you’re a younger investor and you’re trying to grow your money, a dividend appreciation fund will likely be better suited to you, he said. On the other hand, if you’re near retirement and you’re looking to create income from your investments, a high-yield dividend ETF or mutual fund is probably going to be a better choice.

To be sure, some fund strategies combine both goals of current income and future growth.

One dividend fund that is highly rated by Morningstar, the Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF, is well diversified, which means investors won’t have a lot of exposure to one company, he said. What’s more, it’s also “really cheap,” with a low expense ratio of six basis points, or 0.06%. The expense ratio is a measure of how much investors pay annually to own a fund.

That Vanguard fund has historically provided a yield of about 1% to 1.5% more than what the broader U.S. market offers, which is “pretty reasonable,” according to Sotiroff.

While investors may not want to add that Vanguard fund to their portfolio, they can use it as a benchmark, he said.

“If you’re taking on higher yield than that Vanguard ETF, that’s a warning sign that you probably have exposure to incrementally more volatility and more risk, Sotiroff said.

Another fund highly rated by Morningstar is the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF, which has an expense ratio of 0.06% and has also provided 1% to 1.5% more than the market, according to Sotiroff.

Both the Vanguard and Schwab funds track an index, and therefore are passively managed.

Investors may alternatively opt for active funds, where managers are identifying companies’ likelihood to increase or cut their dividends.

“Those funds typically will come with a higher expense ratio,” Devinney said, “but you’re getting professional oversight to those risks.”