How Much Debt Is Normal?

Did you know, if you Google “How much debt is normal,” you will be faced with some pretty staggering numbers.  Are you ready for this?

When looking at the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances, depending on the age group, the average person can range from $108,000-$134,000 of debt.  This is made up of

• student loans (~$50,000),
• credit card debt (~$17,000),
• mortgage debt (~$176,000) and
• car loans (~$29,000).  

This was the first response that came up on google.  The average American has $134,000 of debt.

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If you are new to the debt game, you will research this and think, “huh, I’m not doing too badly.”  But, that is a problem!

Google and the world are telling you everyone has debt and if you are at or below average, you are doing well.  That is such a crock! You shouldn’t have any debt, period.  

This may seem like radical thinking to you, but imagine your life if you didn’t have any debt.  What would that look like for you? More freedom? More time? Less stress? Without debt, you would be able to just build wealth like crazy to live a comfortable life and help others.  Sounds fabulous, right?

So how did we get here?

I don’t know how you got to be exactly where you are, but it may have gone something like this.

• You needed a car to get from point A to point B.  This included getting to school and work. Here comes a car loan.
• You needed the education to get a good job.  There was no way to pay for school while going through it as fast as possible.  Here comes a student loan (I took out $270,000 worth of these).
• You need a place to live after graduating and settling down to get started with your new job (which pays less than you were anticipating).  Here comes a mortgage.
• Now there are daily living items, activities and unforeseen expenses entering into the picture.  Don’t even get me started on what this looks like with kids. You just need some money fast. Here comes the credit card.

Any of this fit with your life?  

We put ourselves in these positions where we feel like debt is the only option.  Everyone has debt. We will pay it back and it won’t be a problem. We aren’t even going to notice it’s there.

That is so false!

Debt is the destroyer of wealth.  If I didn’t have a mortgage or student loans, I would have almost $3,000 extra every month.  Now imagine putting $3,000 in retirement every month. I would be a freaking millionaire!  

We all should have the opportunity to build wealth.  Your debt is going to keep you from doing that.

You want to know the real answer to “How much debt is normal?”  The answer is zero. Zero debt is normal. That is what you should be striving for.  Google may tell you differently, but debt should not be a normal part of your life. It’s as simple as that.

Am I in debt?  Yep. It sucks and I feel like an idiot for thinking I had to take on debt to get my dream job and live my dream life.  I didn’t.  

No matter where you are today, just know you can totally change your situation.  You can get rid of your debt if you want it badly enough.  

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