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This kind of statistic is very deceptive and borderline dishonest. If you have no debt and one dollar to your name, congratulations, your are richer than the po
by marcoperaza 10y ago
This kind of statistic is very deceptive and borderline dishonest. If you have no debt and one dollar to your name, congratulations, your are richer than the poorer half of the United States combined.
Also, by this logic, a homeless guy with no debt and a $10 bill in his pocket is better off than the Harvard Law grad at a prestigious law firm still paying off his student loans.
- kolbe 10y agoreally? i always assumed most were just very poor, not net in debt.
- marcoperaza 10y agoI just looked it up and it's actually something like 20% of the US that has a negative net worth. Not half, but my point stands.
- chiefalchemist 10y agoI would imagine that if you factored in "home ownership" it's much higher. That is, you don't actually own your home til the mortgage is paid. So that equity is a ruse of sorts.
- rgbrenner 10y agonet worth includes assets... so only if they were underwater on their mortgage.. and with the house prices in the US, I don't imagine there are a lot of people in that situation (at least since the subprime mortgages have all/mostly been foreclosed on by this point).
- chiefalchemist 10y agoOkay. Thanks. But I'm gonna have to call that a false god none the less. Wealth on paper (i.e., stock) is bad enough, but to assume (<< keyword) that some fraction of your house is worth $X and is "money in the bank" seems foolish to me. Let's not forget that when you get a mortgage for say $500k, that's not what you end up paying (in total). The total and real cost of that loan is much high. I digress? :)