For households with all four types of debt, that’s a combined average of $263,259. That translates into an average of $6,658 a year just in interest payments alone, which is especially tough when compared to the median household income of $75,591.
That means American households are spending 9 percent of their gross income just on interest payments alone.
Here is how that debt translates into financial stress: 14 percent of Americans have more debts than assets, which puts their net worth in negative territory.
People are piling up a tremendous amount of new debt in two areas: auto and student loans.
Outstanding car loans and student loans have climbed to $1.1 trillion and $1.4 trillion respectively, both record highs.
Those are troubling numbers, and personally, I find great comfort in the knowledge that I don’t owe a penny to anybody in the world.
I suspect that readers of this column are in a similar boat, looking for places to invest the dollars you’ve accumulated.