Groceries, gasoline, rent and outstanding debts, inflation and painful price hikes have many Americans concerned about their financial present and future. And with fears that a recession could be lurking in the not-too-distant future, it's important that people get their affairs in order.

NPR reached out to financial experts on how to better navigate these turbulent times. Here's the advice they gave from their respective fields.

Income and personal finance do's and don'ts

On top of her role as an assistant marketing professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School — one of the world's leading business programs – Wendy De La Rosa works to to improve the financial lives of those with low-to-moderate incomes. She co-founded the Common Cents Lab, which combines behavioral science and economics to improve people's financial well-being.

According to De La Rosa, people cannot budget or save if they aren't making enough, and that gets harder with everyday items going up in price. To get ahead, she recommends individuals take steps to bring in more money, starting with asking for a raise.

"With costs of living rising, I think it's an appropriate conversation to have," De La Rosa said. 

At the same time, the best way to achieve a meaningful boost in income is to land a position with the competition, De La Rosa said.

"In this tight labor market, where employers are essentially falling over themselves to try to find talent, if you feel like you're being undervalued at your workplace, now is probably the time to start searching for another role," she said. "Now is the time to polish off your resume, to get out there, see what you can get. And at the very least, ask for a raise at your company."

The next problem to tackle is credit card debt. 

As federal rates rise, so does the interest on your credit cards, which has hovered around 15% in recent years, according to Nerd Wallet. But rates can be as high as 25% to 30%. 

An individual's rate is more often than not established when they're younger, when they have little to no credit, resulting in a higher rate, De La Rosa said. And though an individual's credit score improves over time with punctual payments, most credit card companies don't change their interest rate — unless you ask.

De La Rosa said tip No. 1 is, "Go ahead, pick up the phone, call your credit card company and ask them to lower your interest rate. ... Many, many years ago, I did a small pilot where I brought people into the lab and had them sort of call your credit card company. And about 40% of them had success either getting a promotional 0% [annual percentage rate] or just getting a credit card interest rate decrease."

An important detail worth noting, which many people may be unaware of, De La Rosa said, is that most credit card companies collect interest on overdue payments daily, not monthly. This is why it is imperative to get that balance back to zero as quickly as possible.