Got Debt? How Much?

[JohnDB]

Consumer debt is rising in these uncertain economic conditions.

Total U.S. household debt reached a record $18.8 trillion in Q4 2025

Meaning the mortgage is not the only debt people are carrying year after year.

It's no longer unusual for people to carry $60-$80,000 in credit card debt,
$100,000 in school loan debt,
and then another $70-$80,000 in auto loan debt (if not caught up in a lease)

All this on top of a mortgage.

Cash Christmas/vacations, paid off school loans, zero balance on credit cards, no medical debt, and paid off vehicles are now luxury items.

Meaning if you have these things but have a regular income of any size....you are wealthy and moreso than your neighbors. (Who have a negative total asset value)

Net worth/Asset Value =total cash value of assets - all liabilities/debts.

Dog days of retirement......where you are so poor during retirement you have to eat dog food instead of regular food if you get to eat at all because you are too old to earn an income.

 

[Chuz Life]

Using your formula, I'm debt free.

Barely.

Better than a lot of people, I suppose, but I don't feel good about it.

 

[pknopp]

I owe appx 20k on one car and a C.C. Bill that gets paid off each month.

 

[JohnDB]

Using your formula, I'm debt free.

Barely.

Better than a lot of people, I suppose'' but I don't feel good about it.

You mean it's a wash for debts vx assets.

You still have debts and assets. And money is moving around as you earn money. You got savings and a retirement account....but also consumer debt. Like dental bills and possibly other medical debt that insurance didn't cover.

Do NOT feel alone....you ARE doing better than most people if at the end of the day its a wash. That's usually the starting point for most people gaining net worth over and above liabilities. (If they continue to not overspend) meaning you are abnormal.

Having the equivalent of a mortgage in consumer debt but not an asset to counter against it....that's bad....really bad.
It's a sign of generational poverty. Meaning if you can afford children one day they too will live always in debt with the added life pressures debts bring.

Doctors usually have a huge school loan debt....but with a large income to offset that debt once they get past internships and residency. But these days....their incomes are shrinking. Used to be a doctor saw 8-12 patients per day. Now it's 24 minimum or everyone is broke. The nursing staff and facilities are unpaid. But the cost of seeing a doctor is super high....I smell a scam involved somehow.

 

[Dekster]

Consumer debt is rising in these uncertain economic conditions.

Total U.S. household debt reached a record $18.8 trillion in Q4 2025

Meaning the mortgage is not the only debt people are carrying year after year.

It's no longer unusual for people to carry $60-$80,000 in credit card debt,
$100,000 in school loan debt,
and then another $70-$80,000 in auto loan debt (if not caught up in a lease)

All this on top of a mortgage.

Cash Christmas/vacations, paid off school loans, zero balance on credit cards, no medical debt, and paid off vehicles are now luxury items.

Meaning if you have these things but have a regular income of any size....you are wealthy and moreso than your neighbors. (Who have a negative total asset value)

Net worth/Asset Value =total cash value of assets - all liabilities/debts.

Dog days of retirement......where you are so poor during retirement you have to eat dog food instead of regular food if you get to eat at all because you are too old to earn an income.

I don't other than whatever may be due on incidental things like utilities and internet and such. My wife has a loan on her ride, but that is pretty much it. We occasionally put things on credit cards and pay off the balances before any interest accrues, but that is a matter of convenience more than anything else like when we are traveling. That hasn't always been the case, but we, as in me, worked really hard to make it happen having been soaked in crushing debt in my younger days.