More People Will Declare Bankruptcy this year than GRADUATE COLLEGE!
This is a SERIOUS problem in America. We have now allowed debt to be an acceptable and encouraged way of life yet every year we set a new Bankruptcy record. I wonder when we will finally get off this map that the credit card companies have made for us because they are making a TON of money and it’s coming from us!
The average marriage in America lasts 9.4 years and 70-77 percent of divorces list finances as a primary reason for it. 2700 divorces each day and about 2,000 of them are because of money!
I have to ask the question. Have you ever had a money fight with your spouse? If you say no I would like to congratulate on your wedding yesterday! I am not married but from research I have seen that when you get married money is one of the major argument producers. What if you had a plan for your money that you and your spouse started from day 1? And once a month you would have a Money Night and you would review things and tell your money what to do the following month? Do you think this would help aid and possibly eliminate tension caused by money? Just a thought.
44% of all household carry a credit card balance. 28% of all Americans say they hardly ever pay off the whole balance.
So basically half of Americans do not pay off their credit card every month. Which means they are buying stuff they can’t pay for. That seems like the most immature action there could be: “I don’t have money to pay for something, but I want it! I’ll get it anyway” How is this even an option!?! 1/4th of Americans say they DON’T PAY OFF THE BALANCE PERIOD! This is alarming especially in light of Proverbs 22:7 which says that the borrower is the lender’s slave.
The Wall Street Journal says nearly 70% of all consumers LIVE from paycheck to paycheck.
Now this is especially sad. What this statistic is saying is 70% of people don’t have an emergency fund to cushion a blow when life happens. Money Magazine says that 78% of you will have a major negative financial event at any given 10 year time. Life is GOING to happen. Your car will break down, your refrigerator will stop running, something is going to happen and if you don’t have a cushion to take those blows you will find yourself in a STRESSFUL situation. It is reasonable to assume that this statistic and the divorce statistic listed above are connected.
The average Japanese family saves around 18.1% of their household income while the average American family saves -2.2%.
We are destined for failure with a statistic like this. This was published in the Wal-Street journal. When I read something like this it makes me know that America does not know what we are doing when it comes to money. I am no longer following what is “normal” spending habits in our country. I choose to follow scripture and follow novel concepts like “spend less than you make.”
This is just an observation on my part: I have traveled to Japan a few times, and my wife is born and raised there. From my experience, Japan is an all-cash (virtually no credit cards except for tourist shops) society. Maybe seeing the true cost of each expense in the form of paying cash, as opposed to the ease of swiping a piece of plastic far removed from the money itself, creates a tendency to save more than spend.
Thanks for sharing these stats. I’m actually surprised the stats are as low as they are in some cases. I would expect over half of Americans to be carrying balances. Or maybe it’s just where I live…
Actually, 28% who don’t pay off their balance sounds rather LOW to me! I would expect more like 90%.
I was absolutely one of the ‘normal’ Americans when it comes to money- for my whole life really. It’s amazing how all of the bad stuff you named sounds bad to me now, but I didn’t give it a second thought in the past.
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