In the 10 minutes that I pondered how to begin this column, I watched my share of the national debt rise a dollar, to $40,661. Most of the other figures tracked by usdebtclock.org, such as the federal budget deficit, move too fast to pinpoint. We all know that the U.S. has a debt problem. Moody's Investors Service weighed in on the issue earlier this week, saying the U.S. could lose its vaunted AAA credit rating at some point in the future if Washington didn't bring the situation under control.

So how worried should you be? While the country's $1.4 trillion budget deficit -- the current difference between what the government takes in and what it spends in a fiscal year -- is almost too big to conceptualize, the whopper of a number will eventually hit home for average citizens, some pros say. The first impact will likely take the form of rising interest rates. The federal government printed record amounts of money to stave off an economic collapse over the past 18 months, and printing money is inherently inflationary, says James Angel, associate professor of finance at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business. To keep inflation in check, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will need to raise the Fed's benchmark interest rate. While the Fed said Tuesday in a statement that officials expect to keep rates low for "an extended period," most pros expect rates to rise within a year or so. When this happens, consumers will start seeing higher interest rates on mortgages and other loans (credit-card loans are not very sensitive to rising interest rates, while auto loans are somewhat sensitive, says Tom Atteberry, manager of the FPA New Income Fund.)

Beyond rising rates, the budget deficit portends a bigger moment of reckoning for this country, some pros warn. If the U.S. isn't careful, it could experience its own version of the debt crisis currently facing Greece. What would that look like for ordinary Americans? In addition to higher interest rates, the dollar would weaken and tax rates would rise, and probably not just for the wealthiest citizens, the pros say. This all boils down to a lower standard of living, says Paul Hickey, co-founder of Bespoke Investment Group, a money management and research firm.

No one knows exactly when the moment of reckoning will arrive. Strong economic growth could postpone it for a while. Yet the math will eventually catch up with the government, many experts fret. It's the same for households and governments: To cover a shortfall, you need to bring in more money, spend less or both. "You can put off a hangover by drinking a bit more, but that just makes the blackout more dangerous," Angel says.