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Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu
I mean, it depends on what you mean by that. Anyone who has a credit card is going to have debt, just by virtue of needing to pay the bill.
But if you mean "most Americans have a negative net worth"
taking into account assets and debts
most Americans have a positive net worth.
https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/average-net-worth-by-age-how-do-you-measure-up
The median net worth of all Americans in 2022 was $192,900.
Oops, dad got sick, time to sell the house
Credit cards don't have to mean debt if you pay them off before the intrest applies. That's how you use them responsibly. Many don't.
Yeah, but if you were younger than 35 in 2022, your net worth was 39,000 USD. It was already brutal, since society expects people to own, or at least rent, homes in their twenties. Now, I haven't heard about things shaping up for younger people (quite the contrary), Trump's dollars are less biggy and the clocking bomb in the form of inflation, they all paint a gloomy picture.
I'd be interested to see the median net worth after removing the top 1%, but I can't be bothered to Google it atm ..
TIL that for my age bracket, apparently I suck.
$192,900
How much of an average little house is that?
About ⅖
I think most americans identify with the book cover, and not the book.
I blame that predestination bullshit that's in the country's DNA. If you're rich it must mean God loves you and if you're poor that's due to your sins.
Puritanism meets prosperity gospel. The original Jesus would get crucified all over again if he set foot in this hellhole.
Not enough people talk about this. This attitude is rampant in the Republican party and no one says a word about it Not even Republicans
I am absolutely beyond broke on paper. My debts are well into the six figures and my bank account is in the low five figures.
I'm in my 40s and have a whopping $15k for retirement and no assets.
It's pretty awesome.
I had $17k in the 401k when I was laid off from my last job - it had been twice that but there was that big collapse. Raised a lot of kids and couldn't put much away. Always something but never much. That was in my 40s.
I am dug out now, mostly, in my 50s, not to the point I think I'll retire but oh my God when I look at the difference between them and now it's crazy, there is so much more.
I just want to say, don't give up hope. I would never have dreamed that this would turn around and it did. And the kids grew up too.
Oh, sorry, I haven't given up hope. It was sort of said with...a laugh. I do have some investments I've made as of late that are looking like they could pay off big...we'll see. Either way, I still sleep okay at night and I have a roof over my head so I can't complain.
I've been there. It sucks. But it was possible for me to get out. It took years. Be careful, and be ready to catch any luck that might come your way.
Maybe the real curency was the debt we found along the way?
Honestly, not being a dick and caveat for me not knowing shit about you, but if you are curious enough about the topic to ask, you should take a quick finance course. Not like enroll in college or anything. I wanna say there are tons and tons of free to access resources for learning how debt and assets work that will undoubtedly improve how you manage your own money.
Just to save the search (I use Udemy the most but definitely have not checked out all of these platforms personally, so do yo own due diligence lol)
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Fuck it, lol, here is a link to a list of 30 free financial courses for all types of financing.
Cash liquidity =/= standard of living
A lot of people are in debt on things like cars and homes, that’s where a lot of the debt is. There is also credit card debt, but that’s a whole other thing. So long as people can make the payments on the loans, and those payments grow slower than their income, they can maintain a given standard of living.
Also a lot of the super rich make most of their money off of collateralized assets as a sort of tax dodge. Them being largely payed in assets that appreciate in value, they then take loans out against the value of the asset, and so long as the asset appreciates in value faster than the interest rate, they’re fine. Since the assets aren’t taxed until they are sold (unrealized gains) and they’re technically not selling the assets by using them as collateral against a loan, so they’re not taxed on that income. This situation also skews the numbers on “the average debt of Americans”.
Ultimately though, this is all a super fragile situation, and all it takes is for assets (like say a house or stock in a big tech company) to decrease in value for everything to explode.
There are also a lot of Americans who are not in such a situation and are limping along financially, trading debt for time, and live at a much lower standard of living.
In debt doesn’t mean you’re broke. Not having money to spend is being broke. I’m pretty sure most Americans will admit they’re in debt.
Yeah, exactly this. I have a mortgage and a car payment so I've got lots of debt, but I wouldn't consider myself "broke" by any stretch. I don't live paycheck-to-paycheck, I put 10% away for retirement, and I can afford to spend money where I want without stressing about it. Overall, pretty charmed compared to how a lot of folks are struggling these days and it's honestly kinda wild to act like it's comparable to anything they're going through.
Some of us are just trying to make the most of whatever time we have left.
If you own a house or vehicle in the USA there's a good chance you're in debt.
Hey, it's the land of Hollywood. If anyone in the world is good in pretending, it's them.
