Answers
Not including mortages, student loans..etc.
Approximately $9,200.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/ money101/lesson9/
US issues $7 trillion debt, supply to stabilize finance.yahoo.com AP source: Census worker hanged with 'fed' on body www.google.com Moody ...
•1970:
•1975:
•1980:
•1985:
•1990:
•1995:
•2000:
•2005:
•2009:
Here's the credit card debt total in billions. You'll have to find the number of household to divide by each year.
• 1970: $4.1
• 1975: $15
• 1980: $59
• 1985: $132
• 1990: $251
• 1995: $465
• 2000: $702
• 2005: $856
• 2009 (Aug): $898
Even when the Dow was over 13,000...when unemployment was at 4%...Americans STILL overspent!
Now, average credit card debt is $4013. The average household credit card debt is $7900.
These numbers are actually LOWER than they had been. October, 2008: $4208 per adult, $8188 per household But this is still really high. Why can't Americans spend within their means? These aren't necessarily working class poor that racks up this debt out of necessity, but middle and upper class people who simply can't stop spending.
Well we have a government that encourages and offers incentives for Americans to take on more debt (most recently 'Cash for Clunkers'). Until people learn to be fiscally responsible with their own money, it'll never happen. We live in a society that glamorizes having big houses, fancy cars, and iPods, and the people who are least capable of affording those things are the first to rack up the debt to obtain them.
There is really no excuse - Americans make more in salary (on average) than most other countries, except for a few countries in Europe.
That means that the average American has plenty of opportunities to save money for retirement and for emergencies.
And yet - the average American worker has less than $10,000 in total retirement savings!
The average American household has around $9,000 in credit card debts.
Many Americans save so little money that they can't even pay for their own healthcare coverage if they lose their jobs.
What the heck is up with this?
I remember being in Germany, and even though people make less money on average than Americans, they saved a lot more, and they could afford nice stuff like yearly beach vacations to Thailand, simply by managing their money carefully.
Why haven't Americans done the same?
"Who the hell are you?"
I'm an American born and raised in Texas, you moron.
Americans are caught up in the spending and plastic culture. I do not fall in this category because I came from a family that was frugal. I save about 25 of my take home income every month and I pay for my purchases in cash. I do not live extravagantly by any means but I was taught to only buy things that I need and to try to pay cash for everything. As a result, I have no car loan and no credit card debt and I bought a house that I could afford and put down 20%. My house payment is only 15 percent of my take home pay. Now, I do not have a cell phone with monthly bills. I have a pay as you go from tmobile and I buy 100 dollars worth of minutes every year and that is all I use. I try not to eat out too much and I watch what I buy. I took money out of my savings to purchase my car outright. I am not earning 6 figures either. The Jone's may appear to be doing better than I am but both Jone's will be working at MacDonalds in the 80's while I am island hopping.
Hey poster below: This is not a democrat or a republican thing. Under the republicans people bought homes that they could not afford and attained more credit card debt in the history of the US. Under Clinton, banking rules were relaxed. There is no one political party to blame or uphold as a shining example.
The average American owns 8 credit card, the average debt per household is 9 thousand dollars.
As I drive in my car, I people in bad living condition with expensive cars in from of the building where they live. Some one with a hummer living in a rented apartment (gas+car bill+insurance).
Why have you become so plastic?
I feel smart when I drive in a economic car. (I traveled 200 miles with 23 dollar on gas.)
I think it is smart to spend on what makes you spend less.
Now we blame wall street for what is happening. But I just think that wall street is jut a big mirror and we are standing in from of it. It just reflect what we are.
This year I plant on using solar energy for the place I live in (run small electrics) to save money.
Why do we have to base our economy on spending and not on saving and producing?
Why do I need a truck if I am just going to college?
Well, you definitely need college after reading your question.
Obviously you haven't been in the real world for very long. Yes, there are some people who don't know how to budget and spend money on the wrong items. However, the vast majority of us are trying to save money, and have our bills in order. We do not spend money we don't have, unlike our government.
Wall Street is greedy and we(taxpayers) get to pay for it.
What they should do is make the CEO's responsible for what they have done, and pay back what they owe. And then put them in jail.
But this will never happen.
It is a sad statement of what our government has become.
The Weakest Bang for our Wilting Dollar – How we Overpaid for the ...
So much horrible policy has occurred since the economy entered recession that the majority of Americans are shell shocked with each day of news. It used to be that a billion dollars in toxic assets was enough to garner some movement out of the market. Now, we talk about trillion dollar deficits as if they were normal. Take for example the ridiculous home buyer tax credit. Let us set aside for a second that massive home buying and speculation led us into this financial crisis in the first place. The home buyer tax credit was basically a gift to people for doing something they were already going to do. Keep in mind that even without the tax credit, people were going to buy homes. But this is what we are left with:
...News
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But with the average age of first-time brides and grooms increasing in the United States —28 for men and 26 for women today — couples are bringing more liabilities, including credit-card debt, student loans and even mortgage debt into first marriages and more »