Percentage of Population in Debt

[Oneiromancer]

What percentage of the US population is in any form of debt?

Also, if you know what this percentage is for other countries, or globally, I'd be interested.

 

[uscitizen]

100% of the US population is in debt. We all owe a share of the 12~ trillion national debt.

 

[mayya555]

100% of the US population is in debt. We all owe a share of the 12~ trillion national debt.

Where can I pay my share of the debt? Is there any account I can wire the amount on? NO? Ough, then this isn't real debt, is it?

 

[uscitizen]

100% of the US population is in debt. We all owe a share of the 12~ trillion national debt.

Where can I pay my share of the debt? Is there any account I can wire the amount on? NO? Ough, then this isn't real debt, is it?

Wasn't there a spot on the tax forms to contribute to pay off the debt?

I think it raised $13.82 so far.

 

[Oneiromancer]

But does the debt of the government doesn't translate into the debt of the individual? If so, that would mean the average person has a debt of 40.000 dollars.

What I really meant was, what percentage is individually in debt?

 

[uscitizen]

But does the debt of the government doesn't translate into the debt of the individual? If so, that would mean the average person has a debt of 40.000 dollars.

What I really meant was, what percentage is individually in debt?

I would say over 80%.

Just a guess though. MOst everyone owes on a car or home at least and most have quite a bit of unsecured debt.

The ones without debt are mostly the very poor and the very rich.

 

[Oneiromancer]

Yes, I suspected the figure would be very high. In fact, I expected it would be even higher. If someone cite a source for the exact cipher, I'd appreciate it. I didn't find anything on Google.

What does the debt of the government really mean with regards to the debt of the people?

 

[uscitizen]

Yes, I suspected the figure would be very high. In fact, I expected it would be even higher. If someone cite a source for the exact cipher, I'd appreciate it. I didn't find anything on Google.

What does the debt of the government really mean with regards to the debt of the people?

In my opinion it means that each of us owes a share of that debt.

 

[Oneiromancer]

So… how does government debt turn into individual debt? Where does this debt come from? How do we get from government debt to individual debt?

 

[uscitizen]

So… how does government debt turn into individual debt? Where does this debt come from? How do we get from government debt to individual debt?

Taxes.

 

[boedicca]

What percentage of the US population is in any form of debt?

Also, if you know what this percentage is for other countries, or globally, I'd be interested.

Search Engines are your friends. Try one.

 

[Oneiromancer]

Why do people keep saying that on fora meant for sharing information? Obviously, before I try using a forum I try using Google. I did dozens of searches.

Taxes… I talked about this with my father. He said debts are deductable from taxes, at least sometimes — "bad debts"? This explains quite a lot, since income tax will always be higher than the interest on loans. So people prefer loaning to paying taxes?

 

[boedicca]

Why do people keep saying that on fora meant for sharing information? Obviously, before I try using a forum I try using Google. I did dozens of searches.

Taxes… I talked about this with my father. He said debts are deductable from taxes, at least sometimes — "bad debts"? This explains quite a lot, since income tax will always be higher than the interest on loans. So people prefer loaning to paying taxes?

The interest on some debts (i.e., a home mortgage) is deductible on an itemized return in the U.S. Interest on credit cards is not. Nor are the principle repayments for any debt.

Here's a good graphic to compare average personal debt (mortgages, credit cards, car loans) per household to their share of the Federal Government debt from last year. It's not pretty.

 

[SpidermanTuba]

What percentage of the US population is in any form of debt?

Also, if you know what this percentage is for other countries, or globally, I'd be interested.

Gross debt? Practically everyone.

Net debt - depends on how you measure it. Do you count the value of my car, for instance, as an asset?


If my wife and I liquidated all of our cash and equity holdings - including the IRA''s after the tax penalties - we would be able to pay all our debts off and have like $1000 left over. So are we in debt?

 

[uscitizen]

Why do people keep saying that on fora meant for sharing information? Obviously, before I try using a forum I try using Google. I did dozens of searches.

Taxes… I talked about this with my father. He said debts are deductable from taxes, at least sometimes — "bad debts"? This explains quite a lot, since income tax will always be higher than the interest on loans. So people prefer loaning to paying taxes?

for individuals basically only home loan interest is tax deductable.
Businesses now get to write off lots of stuff.

Umm the deduction is not off your due taxes but off your gross income.
So you still pay taxes on the interest paid, you get about 20% or so off with the tax deduction. the 20% figure depends on your tax bracket, etc.

 

[FireFly]

US Debt Clock

 

[william the wie]

I don't have any debt nor have I had any since 92 when my wife and I paid off the mortgage early. About 1/3 of all housing in the US is owned free and clear if I remember correctly. Obviously all of that housing involves living below one's means. Likewise living without credit cards is also possible. A lot of that has to do with connections with financial services. My degree is in finance and mom was a bank at age 21 or 22 with dad being the house flipper. Leverage casualties seen up close and personal tends to make you skittish about borrowing money.

 

[Terry]

USA population approx. 320 million

Total bail out in dollars 11 trillion, with 3 trillion in reserve http://money.cnn.com/news/storysupplement/economy/bailouttracker/index.html


Real Stimulus would have been to give each household 1 million bucks. It would have fixed the housing crisis, bank crisis because people would have paid off their debt, and it would have created jobs.

 

[Oneiromancer]

Hm, if there's only discount on debt for houses, I still don't understand how exactly public debt could translate into personal debt. Is there any way to pinpoint where exactly this transference happens, through what mechanism?

Or, are personal and public debt not causally related and do they merely share a common cause, such as the prevailing attitude of people in general?

 

[Big Black Dog]

We'll always owe Gunny a huge debt...