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Debt is a concept as intricately intertwined with America these days as baseball, Mom and apple pie.

The amount of personal debt in this country is ever-increasing and a large part of the reason is that credit has never been easier to get. But debt is a complex concept. Not all of it is good -- a fact a surprising number of Americans fail to realize until they're in the hole -- and yet not all of it is bad. When used intelligently, debt can be of tremendous assistance in building wealth.