I think because the number of people with a mortgage is smaller than those without one, the average skews lower. Mortgages are the first loan they mention at 1800+ a month.
They should include average rent per month to get a better picture of how much people are earning just to spend immediately.
I really wish that journalists would learn how to write a headline. “Typical” can mean either mean or median, either for the whole population or just for the population that would reasonably take on debt (similar to how unemployment is counted). [or sometimes mode] but I think they’re saying average.
A huge gap in this article is not defining what they mean by credit card debt. Sure, there’s an afterthought about high balances but the article is mostly focussed on monthly payments. With the death of cash, my monthly credit card bill has never been higher, but I’m also in a place where I’m paying it off every month and am in good financial shape. Credit card payments to cover pretty much all of my operating expenses is different from credit card debt. Until they better define that, I have to assume that a lot of us no longer use cash or checks, so the credit card payments going up is an unsupported claim
My credit card bills have gone up because they cover daily expenses, and inflation, never use cash, never use checks. For whatever portion of people are similar, I’m not convinced of the credit card portion.
Of course, I recently got a car loan after no payments for 5 years, so my personal debt also went way up
Mortgage and student loans were included, which makes these numbers generally meaningless since those two have been nearly non-discretionary for decades (just stating the fact not endorsing the structure of it).
I am having trouble understanding what counts as debt. As someone that makes all purchases on a credit card, does that count as debt if I pay it off every month? My initial gut reaction is that the number is low and that means people aren't buying homes or cars or higher education. Also not sure if this also means older boomers and genx are carrying more debt into later stages of life than they used to. They mention that in the article, but would be curious to see more demographic breakdowns.
According to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) in 2022 the average monthly mortgage payment was $2,317. In comparison, the median mortgage payment for Q2 of 2023 was $2,051 for a mortgage on a single-family home.
Yeah, that has to have either people who rent or have a paid-off house pulling things down, since the typical mortgage payment alone is more than that, absent any other forms of debt.
I am (very thankfully) debt free -- if I don't include my rent.
I keep hearing how going into debt is "essential", especially from older people, and I think it's the most ridiculous bullshit I've ever heard. I have excellent credit, mostly because I used to have debt. But the fact that we've now built this whole system around using money one doesn't have is maddening.
If one intends to use education as an investment (as in, for the realistic purpose of increasing the market value of your labour), it might be the case that taking debt for that is a good economic decision as well.
Some people like their watch face on the underside of their wrist. It can be more comfortable. It just isn't as common cause it doesn't show off the watch to others as well.