Staggering Financial Statistics

According to Wisebread, there are 750 registered Personal Finance Blogs. One would have to assume that there are an equal amount of unregistered PF Blogs giving us a total of approximately 1500 PF blogs. While this is an impressive number, it still pales in comparison to how many companies offer “Check Cashing” and “Payday Loans.”

Most of these personal finance bloggers, myself included, spend much of our time visiting blogs similar to our own. By doing so, we unintentionally create a bubble around ourselves: a “blogger bubble” if you will.

By living in this “blobble,” it’s easy to think that things are improving. Consumers are getting savvy. Consumers are “fighting back.” People are finally getting a hold of their finances.

WRONG.

People are idiots. People are still irrational. People continue to do what’s not in their best interest.

You will see this from the statistics below (based on people that begin working at age 25, these are statistics at age 65):

• 62% retire with less than $25,000 in assets and depend on Social Security for income.
• 97% retire with less than $100,000 and would be in trouble if Social Security or their pension disappeared.
• 2% could survive without Social Security.

Now do you see where we come up with the hated “1%”?

• 60% of workers age 20-29 have cashed out their 401(k).
• 70% of workers age 20-29 are not saving anything.
• This same group is graduating college with an average student loan debt of $23,000.

The future is not looking brighter.

• 40% of American families are spending more than they earn.

This is supposed to be the easiest concept, no?

Tagged as: retirement