It’s time to grab a flashlight and your bag of candy. Come huddle ’round the campfire as I regale you with 13 super scary money facts to make you shiver and clutch your wallet this Halloween!
Scary Money Facts About Debt
As of a 2021 Experian Study–
1. The average American has a consumer debt balance of $96,371, up 3.9% from 2020. Mortgages, home equity lines of credit, and student loan balances are the biggest contributors to American debt today.
2. The average American credit card balance was $5,221
3. The average car loans amounts were nearly $21,000
4. Personal loans owed amounted to slightly over $17,000.
5. But the average American savings account only had a balance of $4,500. That wouldn’t cover even 1 month of the $5,111 the average American household spends each month in the case of a job loss or emergency!
6. Less than 25% of American households are debt-free
7. The average credit card interest rate is 20.60% for new offers and 16.27% for existing accounts, according to WalletHub’s Credit Card Landscape Report. If they paid just the minimum payment of $150 a month and never added another charge to the card, it would take four and a half years to pay it off. And they would end up paying over $2,799 in interest!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Scary Money Facts About Retirement
According to the 2019-2020 Federal Reserve SCF data
8. The average retirement savings for a 60-64-year-old is $221,451 but the median savings is only $32,550.
9. Following the 4% rule that states it is safest to retire with 25 times your annual expenses. Most people do not even have 1 time their annual expenses saved, forcing them to rely heavily on social security in retirement.
10. According to the Social Security Administration, as of June 2022, the average social security check is $1,542.22. This varies depending on the average salary earned and years worked but can you live off of that each month? At this rate, it’s no wonder most people think they can never retire.
I WANT MY MOMMY!
Scary Money Facts About Everyday
11. Spending just $10 a day on lunch costs $2,500 a year. If you were to make lunch at home for $3 and invest the extra $7 a day at 10% (average S&P 500 annual return) for 10 years, you could have almost $28,000.
12. According to marriage.com, financial troubles are the second most common reason for divorce, second only to infidelity. It’s so important to get on the same page with your partner. (Financial Intimacy, How to Discuss Money With Your Partner)
13. The average cost of college in the United States is $35,551 per student per year, including books, supplies, and daily living expenses. (How to Pay For College Debt Free)
AND THEY NEVER SAW THEIR MONEY, AGAIN!
Wrap-Up
The facts are indeed scary! But by reading an awesome financial blog like this and learning more about your finances, you can take control of your own story!
- Get out of Debt
- Cut Excess Expenses
- Build an Emergency Fund
- Invest for Retirement
- And Build the Life You Want
Without fear!
Have a Happy Halloween! And I’ll see you in the clearance section tomorrow! (13 Frugal Tips to Save Money This Halloween)
So the real question this Halloween is…if bitten 3x by a vampire, how long would it take for the average American to go from “work forever” to “ForeverFI”? Okay, that started out nerdy and a little surreal, but now my brain calculator is all fired up, lol.
I love it! My kids hear me talking about investing all the time. They know that with the power of compound interest, all vampires should be RICH! 🙂