Happy Fry-day!

Do you ever lay awake at night and wonder how much your neighbors spend on canned ham each year? What about their video game budget or annual snack food spending?

Well I have good news for you… Today’s guest post from MoneyLemma reveals these very important statistics — and more — while digging through the average household budget. Enjoy…

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Time to gossip for the sake of financial well-being …

Other people’s money is none of your business, and thus inherently interesting.

More importantly, that information is useful. Benchmarking, or using average data as a baseline, is helpful for making a budget and identifying poor spending habits, like buying a non-refundable $28 million ticket to space and then double-booking the calendar:

Understanding how money flows through society is also part of being an informed citizen; it’s an antidote to misinformation. This post examines how Americans spend their money and how that information can help you manage your own household expenses. By the way, this post uses 2019 data because, you know, 2020 was weird. 

Average American household income and spending

In 2019, the average U.S. household made $71,487 after taxes. Of that, $8,451 was saved and the rest was spent.

Here’s a more detailed breakdown of household spending, which shows that housing is the biggest expense, followed by transportation, insurance, health care, and then other stuff:

Add it all up, and we see that 68% of after-tax income is spent on housing, transportation, insurance, healthcare, education, and food prepared at home (mostly grocery spending). For the most part, those are necessities, i.e., non-discretionary spending.

Over time, the cost of some of these necessities has generally increased (a.k.a. inflation), which we millennials love complaining about … I mean, seriously, am I ever going to own a home? I’d need a mortgage payment just for a storage locker.

Here, we can see that Americans’ share of after-tax spending on housing costs has grown to 23% in 2019 from 18% in 1973. The budget percentages on insurance and health care expenses have risen, too.

To be fair, the value received in some of these spending categories has arguably increased with the cost. Healthcare today is better than healthcare in 1970, which we see by the rise in life expectancy:

And the average home is bigger:

Reconciling the contradiction that we are both richer and poorer than our parents’ generation is an interesting topic in and of itself.

Household discretionary spending

The typical household spends about $1,200 per month on everything discretionary. That covers a lot:  restaurants, Fortnite skins, taxidermy, must-have 90’s nostalgia collectibles, vintage combs, secret love affairs, hush-money payments to estranged former lovers, divorce lawyers, trips to Vegas with the boys, shotgun weddings, divorce lawyers again, desperately starting a personal finance blog to pay off all the lawyers … I’ve said too much.

The biggest discretionary bucket is food away from home, which means food prepared by someone outside the household.  The average household spends $294 per month, or $3,528 per year, on eating out.

The second-largest non-essential household expenditure is entertainment, which accounts for about $250 per month, or $3,090 per year. (For some random reason the BLS classifies pet expenses as entertainment.)

(An aside … Americans don’t need to save more. They need to save smarter)

A 2019 Northwestern Mutual study found 90% of Americans don’t think they’ll have enough money to retire. But the average household doesn’t need to be so insecure … the BLS survey reveals that American households are saving $704 per month.

Here’s what that could look like over a 30-year period if invested well.

In other words, monthly savings of $720 will grow to $250,000 if it’s kept in a checking account for 30 years. Invest it? It’ll grow to $1.5 million in the same amount of time.

As long as household savings are invested wisely, most Americans will end up with a sizable nest egg. There’s also social security, insurance, and pensions that aren’t included in these numbers. Bottom line, the data is much stronger than American confidence. C’mon America!

If you want to learn more about what “investing well” means, check out MoneyLemma’s post on why 401ks exist. 

How comparing household budgets can help you

I, for one, would love to know what my neighbors are spending on canned ham or ripped jeans. That urge is more than just curiosity — it’s research. Hard data can provide some context for budgeting; it’s a frame of reference.

For example, let’s say you are looking to tighten your pursestrings and save a little more. You’re reviewing your expense habits and figure you spend $2,000 per year on clothes. Is that a lot? A little? Everything in personal finance is relative and subjective, so it’s hard to say.  Benchmarking, though, can help you arrive at a conclusion with confidence.

Here’s a rough visual breakdown of the average American household’s apparel spending (with women’s clothing claiming the top spot):

This is a good start but might not be relevant to your household type, like if you’re living alone. Plus, discretionary spending is a function of income — the more disposable income, the more you can spend on clothes.

Here’s a breakout of apparel spending by single women based on income:

You’ll see that women who make less than $15,000 spend $557 a year on clothing. Women who earn $40,000 to $50,000 spend about twice that.

This kind of contextualizing can help you understand where you stand. If you spend a lot of money on clothes, that’s fine — but checking the data keeps you honest with yourself, which makes you more thoughtful about your decisions.

Where to get more data on Americans’ spending habits

Most of the data in this post comes from the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) Consumer Expenditure Survey. They publish really detailed data. If you can’t be bothered to dig through their files for analysis, I don’t blame you (it’s boring), but even just googling or asking some peers about their normal household bills is better than nothing.

The goal of benchmarking as a budgeting method is to get an outside perspective. Even if you just ask one friend, or just google one statistic, it can help you get a little perspective. Even small efforts to be intentional and thoughtful can make a big difference — and this is not the first time I’ve ended a personal finance post on that point.

As a parting thought, here’s the answer to my burning question on our fellow Americans’ average spending on canned ham: $0.78 per year. 

So, which out of these stats surprised you most? How does your spending  stack up???

MoneyLemma writes about the overlap between your money and your world. Check out the MoneyLemma post archive.

[This post, How Your Neighbors Spend Their Money (aka the Average Household Budget), was first published by 5am Joel on Elite Edge Money]

Happy Monday! Who’s ready for kick-ass week?

I’ve been reading a survey conducted by our friends over at Personal Capital that reveals some interesting info about how covid has affected people’s retirement plans.

Some of the results are a little scary (like ~30% of people tapped into their IRAs and 401(k)s to fund living expenses last year), but most stats seem apt given that 2020 threw everyone for a loop. I’ll list and discuss the main takeaways below, and if you want to check out the entire dataset, you can do so here.

Also keep in mind that statistics can be interpreted many ways. So take everything with a grain of salt!

Quick Stats About the Survey Participants  

This data was collected Nov. 4 to Nov. 10 — right after election day. All respondents were Americans with at least $50k in retirement assets and were “not retired yet.”

Respondents were between 40 to 74 years old, with the biggest concentration (32%) in the 40 to 44 range. They were split equally by gender. Most (86%) were employed (full-time, part-time or self-employed). Seventy-six percent were married.

Enough of that! Here are the interesting finds …

About One-Third of Americans Withdrew Money From an IRA or 401(k)

Part of the CARES Act let people affected by the coronavirus take a distribution of up to $100k from their IRA, 401(k), or similar account without paying the regular penalty.

Looks like about 1/3rd of people withdrew from their retirement accounts, and not just small amounts … more than 30% of them pulled out $75k – $100k. Most funds went to pay regular living expenses.

Regarding the people who “took a loan”… Sometimes taking a *short-term* loan from your retirement account isn’t actually such a bad thing. It’s a tax-free loan, quick process, has no impact on your credit report, and you pay yourself the interest vs. borrowing elsewhere. As long as you pay back the loan within the right time frame, it can be a good fix to a short-term problem.

That being said, I think we can all agree that having an emergency fund is the best way to cover emergencies. This is one of the main survey takeaways I’ll get to at the end.

How Saving Rates Changed During the Pandemic

The median savings in 2020 was 12% of income for all respondents. Data showed about 66% of people contributed to their workplace retirement accounts, 37% to a traditional IRA, and 29% to a Roth IRA.

Honestly, this isn’t as bad as I was picturing. And another interesting thing is that almost 80% of people saved the same or more in 2020 compared with what they saved pre-pandemic.

• 53% said there was no change in savings rate pre-pandemic
• 25% said they saved MORE in 2020 than before
• 21% said they saved less than before
• 1% weren’t sure

How the Pandemic Is Changing People’s Plans for Retirement

This one is really interesting…

Thirty-four percent of respondents said their retirement plans haven’t changed, and the other 66% of people are mostly planning to work longer and/or save more money.

But, why I find this interesting is because in the section above, nearly 80% of people said they saved the same amount or more than pre-pandemic. This tells me that the pandemic itself didn’t harm their ability to save in 2020, it was more of a wake-up call alerting them to the fact they may not have been saving enough in the first place.

Confidence About Retirement Is Taking a Hit

About 43% of people said they are less confident that they’ll have enough to retire comfortably as a result of the pandemic.

But, although confidence was shaken, still 7 in 10 (71%) respondents said they were confident they’ll have enough income to live comfortably in retirement.

Social Security is a big part of this expected future income. In fact, 1 in 5 people said they expect Social Security will cover >50% of their needed retirement income.

How Americans Are Investing Now — Includes 24% Cash!

Here’s the breakdown of assets in the respondents’ investment portfolios as of November 2020:

I thought I was nuts holding ~10% of my net worth in cash, but these respondents have a huge collective cash allocation at 24%! (They are older than me, so having a less aggressive allocation makes sense I guess). I’m kind of surprised there’s not a larger stock allocation — just 36% here.

How Americans Reacted to the Market Downturn in 2020:

I’m most proud of the 54% of people who said they did nothing about the stock market and simply waited for it to recover …

This is waaaay easier said than done. When markets drop and everything turns red, it takes a really strong mind-set to think long term and not do any panic selling.

Personally, I sold $40k worth of stocks in a panic in March (mostly to boost my cash position and add to my real estate emergency fund) but ended up re-purchasing those same $40k of stocks about 10 days later. Thankfully, the market declined during that 10-day period, but it could have easily gone the other way.

Two percent of people said they withdrew from the stock market completely and haven’t re-invested any money since.

Who Got a Stimulus Check? (and Did They Even Need It?)

This is a little disheartening … 83% of survey respondents received a stimulus check. But only 28% percent of them actually stated that their income decreased…

I think it’s safe to say that a lot of money got sent to people who didn’t really need it (myself included). That’s probably why most people collectively said they saved it, invested it, or gave it to charity.

Keep in mind, this survey was done in November. Income situations may have changed since then (many cities went into more lockdowns for holidays), and another round of stimulus checks went out in late December and January.

What Americans Predict About Economic Recovery

The majority (72%) of respondents are confident the economy will improve in 2021. But 3 out 4 (74%) are still “worried” about stock market volatility.

It’s difficult to interpret this because the questions are quite broad. But I think in general, most people expect 2021 to be much better than 2020 as far as economic improvement. However, they seem very aware that the stock market is detached from the underlying economy and has a mind of its own. (Could also explain why many people are hoarding cash?)

What Investors Learned in 2020

The biggest realization for everyone was that their portfolio strategy was able to weather bad times. Good to know when the next “bad time” comes!

We all need reminders of the other lessons learned, too:

• Check your cash reserves and emergency fund from time to time. Adjust it accordingly when your life situation changes.
• Check your diversification and asset allocation. Diversifying reduces risk by spreading your eggs across multiple baskets.
• Rebalance occasionally as your goals and risk tolerance shifts over time. 
• Don’t take on more risk than necessary! 

There’s a bunch more facts and general poll data here and here if you’re interested.

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So, what do you reckon? Do these survey findings align with your experience last year? Have your retirement plans changed? What about you FIRE folks?

Have a great week!
– Joel

PS: Cheers to Personal Capital and to Kiplinger for conducting the survey and giving us permission to use the data and graph images. Personal Capital is a paid affiliate partner of ours, but there are no affiliate links in this post, nor did we get paid to write this.

[This post, How Covid Is Changing Americans’ Retirement Plans, was first published by 5am Joel on Elite Edge Money]

Were you one of these people?!

Like, when you used to go to work every day back in the Good Days? ;)

I’m wayyyy too Goody Two-Shoes* to even dare try pulling these off (I’d get caught in a heartbeat!), but according to this survey by Procurify.com it’s something apparently a good chunk of people are doing:

“30% of employees have expensed a personal purchase, pretending it was for business”

Naughty!

“30% of employees have exaggerated tip amounts on an expense report”

Sneaky!

“29% of employees have expensed the same item more than once”

Tricky!

“14% of employees have secretly accepted a refund for an already expensed purchase”

Okay now that is both devious AND brilliant, haha…

“8% of employees have made up purchases on an expense report”

WOW!! Big balls to try and pull that one off! Don’t you need receipts as proof, though?

*If you’re wondering where “Goody Two-Shoes” comes from, btw, it’s from a fable similar to the Cinderella story:

“The fable tells of Goody Two-Shoes, the nickname of a poor orphan girl named Margery Meanwell, who goes through life with only one shoe. When a rich gentleman gives her a complete pair, she is so happy that she tells everyone that she has “two shoes”. Later, Margery becomes a teacher and marries a rich widower. This earning of wealth serves as proof that her virtue has been rewarded, a popular theme in children’s literature of the era.” – Wikipedia

In other random news, here are some other things people are willing to do…

“48 million Americans would skip a credit card payment over a vacation” – WalletHub.com

Crazy!! At least pay the bare minimum while traveling in debt!!

“Nearly 9 in 10 people who have tried to get a credit card late fee waived were successful” – WalletHub.com

GOOD NEWS FOR ONCE!! :) And honestly one of the easiest things to pull off. You literally just pick up the phone and ask for the fees to be waived! And if not lucky on the first go, hang up and try again with another person or manager. 1,000% better odds than not even trying at all!

(Though according to that same survey, while women are 18% more likely to have tried to get a fee waived than men, they also tend to be 2% less successful :( )

“62% of student loan borrowers would give up their 2020 vote if it meant their student loan debt was completely forgiven” – LendEdu.com

Oooh great Would You Rather! I would do this in a heartbeat if I was maxed out with debt! A tougher question would be if it meant giving up your right to vote FOREVER (eek!).

Here were some other things people were willing to do as well to clear their loans:

• 68% would give up social media for five years
• 60% would give up all streaming services for life (that would be hard to do in these days!!)
• 52% would give up all payment methods besides cash for life (oooh imagine no more credit cards or venmo or apps??! That would be hard!!)
• 49% would give up being vegan or have to become vegan for life (not happening)
• 30% would enlist to fight in a hypothetical World War 3
• 17% would give up hot showers for the next 25 years (!!!)

And then lastly, “100% of people would save 10x more money if they read Elite Edge Money every single day” – Elite Edge Money super scientific survey… of one.

;)

As professor Aaron Levenstein once put it,

Statistics are like a bikini. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital.

Haha… So go ahead and ignore this entire post today!

Though still curious if you’d ever do any of those things to wipe away your own debts? Or if you’re one of the people in those expense report stats?!

Be sure to comment anonymously if you are! ;)

Some other fun “Would You’s” over the years:

• Would you… Go to jail for a year for a million dollars?
• Would you… Gain 25 lbs to wipe out ALL your debts?
• Would you… Break up with your significant other for a 10% raise?
• Would you… Politically sell out for $10,000?

[This post, Were you one of these people?!, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

What up what up!

Opened an email that rattled off the below stats, and reminded me we haven’t done a good bombing of them in a while…

• According to Northwestern Mutual, the average American has over $38,000 in Personal Debt
• According to GOBankingRates, 58% of Americans have less than $1,000 in Savings
• According to the New York Federal Reserve, over 7 million Americans are at least 90 days behind on their car payments
• And then according to one J. Money Rockstar, 100% of those who read Elite Edge Money will go on to retire a millionaire…

Perhaps one of these were inserted, but it still doesn’t make it untrue! ;)

Sadly the rest has been normalized for years now… Not even shocking anymore :(

But here are some other fun stats that may tickle your financial pickle!

Those kitties seem to like ’em!

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“45% of pet owners spend the same or more on their pet’s healthcare insurance than their own” – Lend EDU

HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE??? Health insurance already costs a mortgage or two!

“Men spend more on impulse buys than women.” – CNBC

Now that I believe, haha… When us men fall for it, we fall hard ;)

“20% of respondents said they would never get married or have children if that meant they could avoid credit card debt.” – Go Banking Rates

This makes me sad :( Dreams should always be pursued if it’s a true dream of yours, whether it’s kids or marriage or anything you’ve always wanted in life (obviously not everyone wants kids/marriage)… It’s sometimes messy, but life has to come first over $$$!

“Moms are 3.6 times more likely than dads to give their kid a credit card… [but] dads are 3.4 times more likely to monitor their kids’ credit card spending” – Wallet Hub

Haha… Sounds about right ;) I remember my dad telling me in no uncertain terms that I’ll be in deep doo doo if anything shows up on that thing during college that’s not pre-approved of…  Made it all the way to my senior year until I slipped and bought some chips and beer on it (IT WAS AN EMERGENCY!!)

“1/4 of millennials believe you must make between $251,000 & $500,000 to be considered wealthy” – Lend EDU

This one’s super interesting to me…. I don’t know what I would consider to be “wealthy” per se (I feel like there’s a *financially* wealthy, and then a *lifestyle* wealthy – which is what I focus on lately), however if I had to choose a number it would be certainly tied to a Net Worth vs a salary… Since time and time again we see that it’s not how much you MAKE that matters, but it’s how much you KEEP! And I feel like once you cross the $300,000 or $400,000 mark you already start feeling more wealthy so at that point it’s just a matter of throwing more onto the fire…

“79% of Americans love the sound of their own laugh” – Laffy Taffy

I don’t know how or why I got passed this one, but it did make me smile for some reason :) And even more so finding out there’s actually a “National Let’s Laugh Day“!! (March 19th)

“58% of millennials would consider banking with Amazon, Facebook or Google” – Marqeta

Nope nope nope…. we already covered this one here and not about to give these places even MORE of my life, haha…

“The most common retirement dream — shared among 70% of American workers — is to travel the world.”- Annual Transamerica Retirement Survey

I can see that one… I don’t know what could top it, other than just NOT WORKING :)

“60% of millennials think winning the lottery is a reasonable retirement plan” – Stash Invest

Now pollsters are just making stuff up, haha… No way that can be true, right?? RIGHT???

“14% of (college) students would rather miss a credit card payment than a party” – Wallet Hub

Now this seems more accurate! No way I was going to miss a party back then ;)

(Me every night in college…)

“19% of (college) students say their friends would make fun of their credit card purchases.” – Wallet Hub

Haha yeah, that would be pretty embarrassing :) Maybe even now?

“(Credit cards) are the dirtiest with an average germ-score of 285, followed by cash (160), and coins (136). For reference, it is recommended that food establishment surfaces have a germ-score of 10 or less.” – Lend EDU

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!

!!!!

!

More: “The dirtiest card we tested had a germ-score of 1,206, which is dirtier than anything we tested for that ATM study, including a NYC park bench, CitiBike handles, and an NYC parking meter.”

“Families with savings of $250 to $749 are less likely to be evicted, miss a payment, or receive public benefits after a job loss, health issue, or large income drop. ” – Urban Institute 

Isn’t that wild?!! A few hundred dollars can make a world of a difference… And increases *confidence* too I’d be willing to bet…

More from the brief: “The economic health of cities and communities depends on the financial health and stability of their residents. Economically secure families are better able to weather temporary income drops independently and are less likely to rely on local services for housing support and cash assistance.”

“Tickets incurred from texting while driving can increase car insurance rates by 23%, which is higher than the average rate increase after getting a speeding ticket (20-22%)” – CarInsurance.com

Should be 500% higher!

And then lastly… “94% of Americans said they are drinking more craft beer than last year” – C+R Research

The most important fact of the day ;)

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And that wraps up this round!

For more past stats, check out our series here: eliteedgemoney.com/category/stats-bomb

Go on and impress your friends now!

[This post, Stats Bomb VI, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

Morning!

Who’s up for some early morning stats?! :)

A report just came out by WalletHub on the most financially literate – and least financially literate – states, and I was proud to see two of those I’ve called home over recent years land in the top 6.

How about yours?

The Most Financially Literate States:

1. Virginia <— Aww yeahh!
2. Utah
3. New Hampshire
4. New Jersey
5. Minnesota
6. Maryland <– BOOM
7. Maine
8. Colorado
9. North Dakota
10. New York

The Least Financially Literate States:

42. Rhode Island
43. South Dakota
44. Hawaii
45. Kentucky
46. Oklahoma
47. New Mexico
48. Delaware
49. Mississippi
50. Alaska
51. Louisiana

If yours landed in the bottom pile there, time to hook up your state and forward this blog to everyone you know!!! ;) It’s counting on you!!! Haha…

Here’s what went into the rankings:

“WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across three key dimensions: 1) WalletHub’s “WalletLiteracy Survey” Score, 2) Financial Planning & Habits and 3) Financial Knowledge & Education. We evaluated those dimensions using 17 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights…”

And those 17 metrics are:

1. Median credit score
2. Share of adults who spend more than they earn
3. Share of adults with rainy-day funds
4. Share of adults who save for their children’s college education
5. Share of adults who try to achieve long term financial goals
6. Share of adults whose household has a budget
7. Share of unbanked households
8. Share of adults borrowing from nonbank lenders
9. Share of adults paying only the minimum on credit card(s)
10. Share of adults who compare credit cards before applying
11. High-school financial literacy grade
12. Public high-school graduation rate
13. Share of students required to take at least one personal finance course
14. Share of adults who attended financial-education classes or counselling sessions in past 12 months
15. Share of adults using online financial services
16. Share of adults with at least a bachelor’s degree

And then lastly – the most fun metric of all:

17. The “WalletLiteracy Survey“score!

Which of course I then had to take just to see how well I contributed to my own state or not ;) And I’ll be honest – there were some tricky ones up in there!!

But luckily there were also some soft balls such as “what’s your age?” and “On a scale from 1 to 7, how would you assess your overall financial knowledge?” so I confidently gave myself a 6 out of 7 and was pleasantly pleased to be on target ;)

Here were my results:

Woo!

There were a lot of questions (30), but I swear you’ll have a good time answering them ;)

Here were a few of them to give you an idea…

• Which two factors are most important when calculating your credit score?
• Which of the following types of deposit accounts generally pays the highest interest rate?
• If you carry over a balance on your credit card from one billing period to the next, when will interest charges begin on a new purchase?
• Rank the following sources of funding for higher education from best to worst… (<– this was one of the 4 I got wrong…)
• Which of the following people likely needs life insurance coverage most?
• Which of the following debt payoff strategies will save you the most money?
• If you put $100 in a savings account with an interest rate of 5% per year and left the money in the account for five years, how much would you have in the account at the end of the 5th year?

Wanna play along and see if you can beat me?

Take the survey here –> The WalletLiteracy Survey

And then let us know if you’re an asset or liability to your state! Haha…

No emails or anything are required to get your score, it’s just some good ol’ nerdy fun to start out your week on the right foot….

Happy Financial Literacy Month!

[This post, Are you an asset or a liability to your state?! ;), was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

According to a study I just read, 61% of people would! Haha… At least when it comes to college tuition *for their kids* :)

And depending on how much we’re talking about here ($20,000? $40,000?) I’d probably consider it too. It’s kinda like the opposite of prostitution – getting paid to NOT have sex – hah!

There were some other interesting stats in this survey by U-Nest too (an app where you can create, and manage, a 529 College Savings Plan for your kids super easily):

“Parents prioritize saving for their children over saving for retirement, paying off a mortgage, taking a vacation, and paying off their own student debt.”

As a father I can 100% relate to this, but as a financial “professional” my job is to remind people it’s important to look after yourself too so you can help your loved ones even MORE over time!  Similar to the whole “put your mask on first and then put others’ on” airplane rule. Since after all, you’re of much more help to people when you’re alive than when you’re not! (Although saving for retirement/college is not nearly as drastic, haha…)

“While 75 percent of parents believe a debt-free college education will increase their kid’s chances for success in life, nearly 40 percent aren’t saving anything for their kids’ education.”

We’re all guilty of not doing things we know is in our best interest :( There’s a stash of Halloween candy right across from me in this room right now and I very much should put it into the trash but cannot!!! And will in fact go and eat some of it right now because CHOCOLATE!!

“Of the parents who are saving for their child’s education, the majority are using a checking or savings account, and only 18 percent are using a tax-free 529 college savings plan.”

It’s hard to hate on savings because that’s the toughest part of the whole equation, but yes  – there are other ways to put that money harder at work so there’s *more of it* later for sure (and at least conserved vs losing $$$ due to inflation!).

Similar to U-Nest, I’m also a fan of 529s and use them for all 3 of my boys, though I prefer going through our state’s plan in order to snag some yummy tax benefits on top of the compounding growth over time. You’d have to check with your state to see if they offer it, but similar to retirement the more you can put you stash in *investments* the more you’ll have later when it’s time to start pulling from it…

“All of this is leading to parents willing to sacrifice their own needs, with over 60 percent stating they would give up sex for one year in exchange for one year of of free college tuition for their kids.”

(I totally wish I could be at the brainstorming sessions for these surveys btw… “Hey – how can we somehow include something about SEX in this?? You know it’ll go viral if we do! And at the very least J. Money will cover it ‘cuz he can never turn down anything to do with sex and money!!!” Haha… All very much true! This blog ain’t called BudgetsAreBoring.com, is it? ;))

I will say though that as much as this stat here on college savings is good, what would be even MORE interesting would be to see how many people could give up sex to have a full year’s worth of STUDENT LOAN DEBT paid off! Since that’s much more of an urgency these days vs something so far off in the future… (though still of course intertwined).

I was going to wait and see what you’d chime in here, but my curiosity got the better of me yesterday and I decided to do my own official poll through Twitter ;)

Here are the results so far (click the picture to see all the comments, haha…)

Surprisingly, the numbers were flopped from what I thought they’d be – especially for a group of finance people!

So either there were lots of people taking the poll without *any* student loan debt at all, OR, y’all are much better about enjoying your lives than I give you credit for ;) And well done in either case!

Here’s a nifty infographic that highlights many of these stats above, and more, if you want to please your eyeballs: The College Savings Crisis: How Parents Feel, Think, And Save. And then you can learn more about U-Nest here too if interested: u-nest.com

I’m not getting paid to share any of this btw, I’m just a sucker for all the juicy press releases being dropped right now! But hopefully you’re catching the nuggets lightly scattered throughout?! ;)

XOXO,

[This post, Would you give up sex for a year in exchange for a free year of college tuition?, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

Happy Presidents Day!

Here are a bunch of financial stats I’ve been saving up that would shock our founding fathers right up from out of their graves, haha…

All that freedom they fought for, and what do we do with it all?? Spend it accumulating more junk and getting those shackles right back on us!

Treasonous!

******

“43.3% of Americans have less than $500 set aside for a financial emergency” – MyBankTracker.com

:(

“14.5% of Americans don’t even know what an emergency fund is.” – MyBankTracker.com

:( :(

“Americans are dying with an average of $62,000 of debt” – CBSNews.com

:( :( :(

“Traditional burials average $7,360 and two-thirds of Americans have not taken the steps to detail their final arrangements” – National Funeral Directors Association

Yeah, BECAUSE THEY CAN’T AFFORD TO DIE!

“Two-thirds of pet parents would buy a portrait, blanket or article of clothing with their dogs face on it.” – Rover.com

And exactly why those stats up there are facts, haha….

“43% of dog lovers would consider signing their dog up for doga (dog yoga).” – Rover.com

Okay I lied, this would be the reason

(Photo by ErharYaksaa on the Doga Wikipedia page… It’s a real thing!)

“26% of people admit to hiding debt from their partner” – LendingClub.com

But on the positive side, the same study showed over a quarter of people surveyed said they’d “rather date someone who has NEVER owned a credit card, than someone who has moderate credit card debt ($1k – $10k).” That’s interesting! I wonder how big that pool of people is though who’s never had a card before?? Most would be in Generation Z, right?

“57% of Americans say that finances are preventing them from checking things off their bucket lists” – ProvisionLiving.com

(Well duh!)

“The average amount of money people are willing to spend on a bucket list item – $3,801” – ProvisionLiving.com

Okay, that’s more interesting :)

“The top financial bucket list goals – 1. Pay off debt 2. Pay off mortgage 3. Retire early 4. Save for child’s tuition 5. Donate to charity 6. Buy a home.” – ProvisionLiving.com

Those aren’t bucket lists – those are financial goals! Haha… Though I’m not hating on them!

“Nearly 1 in 3 Americans think “Bigfoot” being real is more likely than retiring comfortably” – AARP

Okay, well we all know Bigfoot is legit, but retiring?? That one’s so much easier to get than bigfoot! :)

“A burglary occurs every 13 seconds, and 34% of burglars will enter a home through the front door.” –  SafeAtLast.co

So pretty much, about 15 robberies have happened since you’ve been reading this post, womp womp…

“According to the FBI, the average value lost per burglary is $2,416” –  SafeAtLast.co

That seems low? No? Though I guess a robber would be pretty hard pressed to find anything in my house worth over $300 (TV), haha… unless they find my coin collection (*gasp*!)

“Nearly 60 percent of investors ages 18 to 34 say they already have taken money from their retirement account” – E-Trade Financial

ACK!! That’s the #1 no-no in the Hand Book of Investing! Convert it to cash or make trades ’till the cows come home, but for the love of all wealth – don’t remove it from the account!

“1/3 of LGBTQ people in the US admit taking out a Payday Loan” – OverdraftApps.com

That sucks, but did you know we actually have a handful of great LGBTQ $$$ bloggers in our community? One of my favorites is DebtFreeGuys.com, and I’m hoping they’ll accept my request of putting together a comprehensive *list* for others to quickly find as well :) We have such a talented – and diverse – group of people in our financial community here. It’s really incredible!

“On average, people have six past late payments on their credit report.” – LendingTree.com

I probably did too in my 20s, but proud to say there hasn’t been a ding on there the last few times I’ve ran it ;) Which you can do for FREE at any time, btw, by going to AnnualCreditReport.com (sounds spammy, but it’s for real!).

“Men are nearly 2.5 times (over 17% compared to 7%) more likely to be scammed than women.”

That’s because us men aren’t as smart as women :)

*** But there are some GOOD things happening too! ***

“95% of borrowers in the 100 metros we reviewed are paying their bills on time.” – LendingTree.com

Work it, America!

“62% of shoppers say that they have used coupon apps or deal sites to find deals when they shop.“ – Ting.com

One of the best habits you can get into! I’ve found countless coupons from $1.00 off to $100 off over the years with a simple 5 second search on Google… And pair that with the browser extension, Honey, and often times you don’t even have to bother yourself as it’ll automatically find them for you!

“59% of America has already cut the cord” – WaterstoneGroup.com

It’s a beautiful thing!! We’re on year #3 ourselves of being cable-free and haven’t missed it an ounce… Though we do cheat and have bunny ears, as well as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon prime for instant streaming ;) You take those away and I’ll def. miss it, haha…

“People who live west of the Rockies are the most likely to repay their credit card debt on time” – LendingTree.com

Random, but awesome!

The top 3 states to retire early: #1. South Dakota, #2. Kentucky, #3. Montana – SmartAdvisorMatch.com

No Colorado??? King of the FIRE bloggers?

“Alabama is the best state in the US for financially savvy over 55s.” – Stannah-Stairlifts.com

*Makes calendar item 16 years in the future to remind myself*

“Top Cities to Pay off Credit Card Debt: #1. Tacoma, WA, #2. Bakersfield, CA, #3. Fort Worth, TX” – SmartAsset.com

I will never in 100 years move to Fort Worth, but God bless you and your credit card skills!

“Financially secure people workout 46% more” – CometFi.com

Looks like I finally made it then – score!!  Three months in a row now running consistently and will have to make sure and never stop if it means going broke again, haha…

Run, J. Money, RUN!!!!!

*****

And that’s it for this round…

Print these nuggets out and make sure to recite them at your Presidents Day galas tonight! That Bigfoot one never disappoints!

For further statistical enjoyment:

• Financial Stats Bomb #1
• Financial Stats Bomb #2
• Financial Stats Bomb #3
• Financial Stats Bomb #4

#KThxBye

[This post, Stats That Would Make Our Founding Fathers Cringe, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

Just got a note about TD Bank’s 4th annual “Love and Money” survey, and it reminded me we haven’t done a good Stats Bombing around here lately :)

Here’s a plethora of data I’ve collected over the past handful of months from press releases and surveys sent over… I’ve tried to pick out the more juicy parts for your enjoyment ;)

Quotes and sources are below, along with my own two cents, of course…

*******

4th Annual “Love and Money” Survey
(via TDBank.com)

“We conducted an online survey with 1,749 respondents (1,522 married/in a committed relationship; 227 divorcees)… Qualifying respondents were over 18 years of age, live in the U.S, and are in a relationship (not single) or divorced.”

“Roughly 6-in-10 believe it is harder to find “true love” over “financial success””

Such an interesting question to pose!! I think I’d agree – finding true love isn’t always in your control, whereas most of your finances are. And the more in control of your finances you are, the better shot of attracting that *person* in your life too – BOOM! Budgeting = confidence = sexy.

“Almost 3-in-10 report talking about money (27%) before going out on their first date through a digital dating service.”

LOVE THIS!! That’s a lot of people talking about money before meeting up in real life! I met my wife the old fashioned way before I got a chance to dabble in the online dating world (met her at a bar where she asked me where the bathroom was – hah! I told her it was on the dance floor ;)), so never experienced what that was like, though I hear it’s either super awesome or super scary. Any of you guys meet your spouse online? Did you guys talk $$$ before meeting in real life?

“55% of couples combine their money, up 4% since last year.”

We’re combiners here too for a couple reasons: 1) it’s much easier to track and watch over when it’s all streamlined, and 2) it feels like we’re more of a “team” doing it this way, which marriage is all about! Of course, it might be different if I had trust issues or been in toxic relationships in the past so I totally get why you’d want to separate it out, but so far it’s been working out well for us.

Another idea is to combine, but keep *one* separate account opened where you can do as you please with no questions asked :) This lets you keep some of your autonomy and freedom more, while also letting you be a bit loose and not have to worry about it affecting your major goals/dreams.

“70% of couples share decisions around large-scale purchases”

Well I would hope so! If you’re not discussing the big things, what are you discussing??

3% of couples interviewed spent $55,000 or more on their wedding.

WOW. It would be interesting to see just how much “more”, if we could even fathom that! But I shouldn’t talk much, ‘cuz while we did spend around average for our wedding, it looks like I rank pretty high on the price paid for the engagement ring…

“The average engagement ring spend is $2,841, up from $2,016 last year.”

I spent $7,800

“42% of divorcees report improved financial well being after divorce, split evenly among men and women (42% and 43%).”

Well that seems encouraging! It’s not the majority of divorcees, but you’re always hearing how divorce devastates on your finances and is hell, so this seems a bit more hopeful than I would have expected? Any divorcees out there want to chime in?

UPDATE: Check out what Jody and MK said in the comments below re: divorce – really insightful!

And then lastly from TD Bank, a screenshot off their Report I liked:

(Pay special attention to that “intimacy” part :) )

*******

Millennial Retirement Spending Study
(via Lendedu.com)

“Surveying 1,000 Americans within [the 22 and 37 age range], LendEDU sought out to discover monthly millennial spending habits on things like coffee, groceries, and online streaming services; we then stacked those expenditures up against their monthly retirement savings.”

“27% of the millennial respondents were spending more on coffee each month than they were saving for retirement.” 

Yes, but let’s be honest – coffee is a necessity ;) Plus, how much could you spend on coffee every month anyways?

“49% of millennials were spending more on restaurants and dining out each month than they were saving for retirement.”

That sounds a lot more right, haha… although still means 51% *are* saving more than not!

“Amongst millennial respondents that were saving for retirement, the average amount saved per month was $480″

NOW THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!!! Almost $500 every – single – month, how beautiful!! Do you know how much that’ll grow over the years??? [Hint: a lot]

********

LGBTQ Money Survey
(via Experian.com)

“In conjunction with Pride Month 2018, Experian recently surveyed 500 individuals who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans or queer to learn more about their financial behaviors and attitudes. The Experian survey also included 500 non-LGBTQ Americans. ”

(This one’s out of my experience range so can’t comment on, but I throw them out there for further thinking/discussion if anyone wants to chime in!)

• 62% of LGBTQ respondents reported having experienced financial challenges because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
• 44% of LGBTQ respondents said they struggle to maintain adequate savings vs. 38% of the general population.
• 34% of said they have bad spending habits that they’d like to improve or change vs. 28% of the general population.
• LGBTQ respondents estimated they devote 16% of monthly income to discretionary spending, but just 11% to saving or investment.

********

2018 Women in the Independent Workforce Report
(via Freshbooks.com)

“FreshBooks, in conjunction with Research Now, surveyed more than 2,700 people in the U.S. who work full time – either as traditional employees, independent professionals, or small business owners.”

(Same with this group – don’t know enough to share any insight, though I’m fascinated by that last line!)

• Women who work for themselves earn 28% less than their male peers in America
• Self-employed women in construction earn 38% less than men (compared to traditionally-employed women in construction earn 2% less than their male peers)
• Women make up 80% of healthcare – but are paid 35% less
• There are only 2 industries where women earn more than men. They’re paid 24% more in I.T. and 29% more in marketing and communications. In education, they break even.
• Self-employed women struggle twice as much as men when it comes to setting rates
• 96% of women want to stay self-employed

********

Survey of 1,007 Parents
(via Decluttr.com)

“Decluttr.com surveyed 1,007 parents in the U.S. to determine how they deal with their children when it comes to smartphones.”

Now this one I will chime in on! :)

“20% of children between the ages of 1 to 6 own a smartphone in the United States”

NO!! What kid needs a phone at that age?? Or I should say – SMARTphone? Give ’em a walkie talkie or flip phone if you’re going the “emergency” route, but a smart phone?? I’m keeping my kids off the internet for as long as I’m legally allowed to, haha…

UPDATE: Check out mollyjade’s comment down below on this… medical stuff is always an exception :(

“Half of parents agree the most appropriate age for a child to own a phone is between 10 to 13 years old”

That sounds more right, though again they don’t necessarily need a *smart* phone – even though every single friend of theirs will have one by then, ugh… It’ll actually be interesting to see if those Relays that Republic Wireless just came out with will change up the industry at all. I hope so! I’ve been waiting for phones to get dumbed back down again for years now – so many good uses for them!! Particularly with kids or the elderly, etc… (On a side note, I’m trying to pick up a few of those Relays to test them on my kids – I’ll report back if I do!)

“29% of parents spent more than $100 on their 1 to 6-year-old’s smartphone”

Well yeah – smartphones are expensive! Unless you hand down your old one to them, which again – ain’t happening here.

“83% say their children spend up to 21 hours per week on their phones”

I feel like that’s a lot? 3 hours/day? Or am I just strict? Haha…  Our “screen time” at home is about an hour a day which lets each kid watch one of their favorite shows each, and then it’s back to play-time or they turn into zombies… Although one of the reasons they’re so happy to have a 3rd brother now is that they’ll get more time to watch TV when he gets to pick his favorite show every day too – hah!

“68% of parents have not placed limitations on their children’s smartphones”

Not sure if that’s limitations on the phones themselves (like no internet, games, etc), or the actual time spent on them, but either way without any limits there’s no telling what they’d get into. Not happening with this old man!

********

Clips from other surveys and press releases:

Here’s some clips I picked off from other random surveys and press releases I’ve been sent over the past handful of months…

“Three-quarters of Americans check their bank balance weekly, but only 27% create an annual budget for their household.” – USAA (press release)

Haha yeah, I used to check my bank accounts EVERY SINGLE DAY when I first got hooked here :) Eventually realized I could scale back a bit and now only check maybe 2-3 days total a month (mainly to pay bills and update the ol’ net worth), but I say better to over check your balances than under check!

As for budgeting, I’ve stopped doing that after I finally got a good grasp on my finances, and now stick to just updating our net worth every month which motivates me a lot more. (And is 10x easier to do :))

“Nearly two-thirds (159 million) said having as little as $60 extra cash a year would make a difference in their lives.” – USAA (press release)

I wish I could find this original press release as I don’t know how you poll 150+ million people?!, but it is interesting (and scary) that $60 a year could make such a difference in people’s lives. But the beauty is that most of us waste $60 probably every month on stuff that could easily be recouped! It’s not as easy as someone just handing you a $60.00 check, but by paying closer attention to your habits every day I’m willing to bet you could find it… (and not talking about those in poverty in our country, of course, but those of us in the middle class who are mainly reading this blog).

“74% of people say they’ve gone into debt to pay for a vacation, to the tune of $1,108, on average.” – LearnVest Money Habits and Confessions Survey

Old me: Oh yeah! Fun times > debt!
New me: Oh, HELL NO! Freedom > debt!

“100% of those who read eliteedgemoney.com will become millionaires over their lifetime.”
– Warren Buffett

The most factual stat of all! :)

********

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Share below and we shall discuss!

For further statistical enjoyment:

• Some Pretty Explosive $$$ Stats!
• Could You Come Up With $2,000 in An Emergency?
• Science Has Finally Proven It: Elite Edge Money!

// TD Bank compensated me to be included in this round of stats bombing…

[This post, Financial Stats Bomb!, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

Taking a break from all the heart pouring lately, and moving on to some financial sexiness today… With special attention on the latter ;)

Check out this clip I was emailed from Sam over at Honeyfi (who you might remember from our FinTech competition and apps review the other month). The truth finally comes out!!

We just conducted a survey of 500 committed couples, and I thought you’d be particularly interested in the results. Among other things, we found that couples who regularly track and discuss a household budget are (i) 50% more likely to report being “extremely happy” in their relationship, and (ii) over 33% more likely to report having a great sex life. In other words, science has finally proven what you’ve known for a long time: budgets truly are sexy.

Thank you, thank you – *takes a bow*. But we can do better, folks. 33% is a great start, but I want to see us at 100% budgeting and having even greater sex!!! And then greater budgeting with greater-er-er sex, all at the same time! Haha… Wait, that doesn’t work…

But it is better than this other stat I recently came across, from Varo Money:

“35% of people say they would rather vomit than make a spreadsheet of their finances”

Come on!! No way that’s true… #FAKENEWS #FAKENEWS #FAKENEWS

The only thing you should be vomiting is all of your expenses to make room for those scrumptious savings! Mmm mmm….. Nothing tastes better than a hearty early retirement cake! And this blog here gots all the fixin’s for it – heyo!!

Okay, I’ll stop haha…. might have had one too many espressos this morning ;)

But true fact: Elite Edge Money. And also, apparently kangaroos…

(This was trending on Twitter yesterday, haha… “A surprised tourist was stopped from using a public toilet in a national park near Perth because a kangaroo was striking a pose in the entrance.”)

Here are more random, yet slightly nauseating and entertaining,
financial stats

I’ve been collecting them for quite a while now… Feel free to bring them up at all the Spreadsheet Parties tonight:

**********

“The average American racked up $998 of post-holiday credit card debt.” (survey)

Ugh… but wait for it…

“…which will take the average respondent 10.28 months to repay (!!!)”

If anything is vomit-worthy, it’s that. Because guess what’s coming around again in another 10.28 months??? Oh that’s right – HELLO HOLIDAYS!!! Thus becoming the never-ending circle of debtness! Ho Ho, NO.

“Over 50% of men and women said they would feel successful if they employed a housekeeper” (study)

I don’t even know how to respond to this one, haha… I mean, yeah – I guess if I had enough money to hire a housekeeper (or chauffeur, door man, professional driver, chef, bat cave, island) I’d feel pretty successful too. But any idiot can pay for that and still be on the brink of bankruptcy. Success ≠ how you spend your money. Success = how you SAVE it.

“74% of parents assist their adult children in paying for their living expenses including rent, cellphone bill, utilities and transportation.” (poll)

I’m shaking my head on this one too, but Lord knows I’ll probably be doing the same for my kids when that dreaded age comes along, haha… You always want to help your kids out, but how do you do it so they learn and don’t need you anymore later in life? What’s the best way to teach them?? I’m really asking – these are not rhetorical questions, haha… I don’t want to lose any of my street cred here! ;)

“27% plan to opt out of home ownership in the next 5-10 years, an 8% increase from 2016” (link)

Now that stat I can get down with! Not because I’m against home ownership in any way, but because it means people aren’t as afraid to do what’s in their best interest anymore for themselves! Because spoiler alert – owning a home is not for everyone. In fact, I’d be leery at any stat that was hovering around the 100% mark of what people were doing to be honest… Unless of course it was around budgeting and/or spreadsheet parties ;)

“Doctors make way more than we think. They are perceived to make $125,000/year, however they actually make $200,000/year.”

Nice! Go docs! I guess that’s why y’all are popping up all over the early retirement scene lately, eh? Checkin’ to see that everyone’s treating their money with as much respect as their patients? To make sure they’re all nice and financially healthy? That everyone’s wallets have a pulse? (One more, one more – That they all have emergency funds???? #NailedIt!)

“46% of married Americans die nearly broke, according to a recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research” (GoBankingRates.com)

Damn. Though I don’t know why “married” had to be included in there? Shouldn’t that make the odds better that you wouldn’t die broke? Still, no bueno. Although, you wouldn’t be that different from many of our founding fathers back in the day… Both Thomas Jefferson and George Washington ended up dying deeply in debt! But at least they enjoyed their lifestyles going out at the end ;)

(I’m actually reading a pretty interesting book on G. Washington right now, and how one of his biggest expenses was entertaining the parade of guests that would stop by his home over his retirement years to pay their respects. Something he had a hard time turning down (also out of respect), but only added to his financial problems. This seemed to be the case for many notable figures in history which is kinda interesting… Do you think you’d be able to turn down all your adoring fans and colleagues?)

“D.C. metro area named worst city for earning six figures & still being broke” (link)

Yup, it’s bonkers out here… $500,000 will literally get you a door if you’re lucky, haha… No less an entire home with your own roof and bathroom! We pay $2,200 for a tiny 1,100 sq ft rambler, and that’s still 30 mins outside of the city… Two hours 30 minutes in rush hour.

“More than half (55%) of Americans think it is acceptable to purchase an engagement ring from a pawn shop.” (Ebates.com)

Hey – traditions gotta start somewhere? :) I’d personally prefer a family heirloom or handmade ring of some nature for anyone out there considering proposing to me anytime soon, however as the financially conscious guy I am, a pawn shop would certainly also do the trick. But only if it doesn’t come with a sad or creepy story as to why it’s there… I’m not about to score a bargain off of someone else’s loss. And I’m damn sure not playing around with any ghosts!

“32.6% have used Venmo to pay for drugs (marijuana, cocaine, adderall, etc.)” (poll)

I thought that was what Bitcoin was for? ;)

“21% of millennial respondents have used Venmo for betting or gambling.”

Oh wait, THAT’S what Bitcoin is for, bah-dum-ching… Although I’ll admit it – for the first time in 5 years I’m actually starting to get a little interested in it. Is that bad? Mainly just for experimental/learning purposes, but not a week goes by when someone doesn’t ask me my thoughts on it. And I’m getting tired of always responding with “I don’t know, go ask Mr. Money Mustache.” Haha…  (Okay, I don’t actually do that, but his recent post I just linked to on it was pretty good…)

I’ll leave you with one more, just in case you were wondering…

Happy weekend everyone!

And to save you the look-up: “Homing pigeons can cost anywhere from approximately $50 up to several hundred dollars, depending on the pedigree and breeder. Keep in mind that in addition to the cost of the pigeons, you must also pay the cost of shipping.”

[This post, Science Has Finally Proven It: Elite Edge Money!, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

Hey hey! So my plan to hit you with that awesome savings account I hinted at on Monday will have to wait some more (couldn’t get my act together – sorry!), but I promise we’ll be back to the saving obsession here shortly, particularly after reading these crazy stats I’m about to share with y’all today.

I always know it’s time to share them when multiple people at once send them to me in hopes of a good gawking session ;) Which is then followed by a good cry when you realize just how bad people are struggling out there, ugh….

HURRY UP AND FIND OUR $$$ BLOGS, ALREADY!!!
WE HAVE LOTS OF FUN HERE, I PROMISE!

Let’s get started… brace yourself.

“1 in 3 Americans can’t come up with $2,000”

This comes from a new study released by The New York Fed I caught over on Yahoo! Finance, and what makes it REALLY scary isn’t that people don’t have it in their savings (which we already know), but that they can’t even *access* it through credit! Can you imagine not being able to even throw it on a credit card if an emergency came up? Sad sad stuff…

Yahoo went on to say:

“One-third of Americans would not be able to handle a $100 medical bill without going into debt.”

Double frowny face :( :( Just $100, man… makes you feel SO FORTUNATE doesn’t it?? I’m pretty sure most of us reading this right now can come up with $100 without going into debt… $hit – I just spent $110 on two old bills for my currency collection yesterday – and that’s not even money you can use! Really puts things in perspective, that’s for sure…

Here’s more depressing stats from Fox News: (why am I subjecting us all to this today??)

“Americans are dying with an average of $62K of debt.”

!!!!!!!! This one’s based on data from credit bureau Experian tracking over 220 million consumers, where apparently a whopping 73% had outstanding debt when they were reported dead. 68% with credit card balances, 37% with mortgage debt, 25% auto loans, 12% personal loans and 6% student loans. And even taking out the home loans – “good debt” as they say – the average was still $12,875 per deceased person.

Of course, we all die at different times and it’s an average across the country, but still – pretty freaky stuff… And even worse for those you leave behind (the article was actually interesting with the parts on what debt can be transferred over to others and which can’t. Spoiler alert: when you leave zero debt, zero can be left :))

Now in more fun/less morbid news…

“Women view men as unattractive if they have a lot of debt. For men, physical appearance carries more weight and debt doesn’t play a role. “

Hah – not very surprising ;) This stat comes from LendingTree.com, and I’ll fully admit I put looks (and humor!) first when out on the prowl back in the day myself… I just happened to get lucky and end up with a lady who cherished frugality more than me! Now I wish she were as passionate about entrepreneurship and minimalism, but hey – what are you gonna do ;)

Lending Tree also found that:

“40% of people who self-identify as very attractive wouldn’t date someone with bad credit; more than 60% wouldn’t walk down the aisle with them.”

I don’t know if bad credit alone would ruin the relationship for me (I’m more interested in knowing if they’re open to changing and/or if I’M IN LOVE WITH THEM!) but it would def. be a concern for sure. At least in my current awareness of money.

“4 in 5 women think it’s very important to check your partner’s finances before marriage — only 3 in 5 men do.”

Okay, now THAT is important. You don’t need to see every last statement or transaction, but you gotta have an overall understanding of what the other person’s bringing to the relationship! Debts, assets, hopes, dreams, kids – can’t be hiding any of that stuff! I feel like it’s just a part of the entire picture, right? Always freaks me out when you hear those stories of people hiding stuff… Financial infidelity can be as hurtful to a marriage as physical infidelity!

And, finally…

“Having more school debt doesn’t hurt the attractiveness of the person as much as having greater car or credit card debt.”

Yup yup, smarts are always > stuff :) Debt is debt, but at least you’re getting a degree and opportunity out of it vs other things people go into it for! In theory it should help you make even more $$$ over time too, thus wiping it out and then some.

So the takeaways today?

1. You should make sure you have access to $2,000 in the case of an emergency
2. A $100 medical bill – or otherwise – shouldn’t force you into debt!
3. Do your best not to die with debt if you can help it ;) Even better – leave your loved ones a cash bonus!
4. If you’re man, WAKE UP AND LOOK AT YOUR HOTTIE’S DEBT! Sexy and debt-free is sexier than sexy and lots of debt (and sexy and working-hard-to-get-out-of-debt-while-also-being-obsessed-with-personal-finance-blogs is even sexier ;))
5. Bad credit sucks, but the more important question is – are they doing anything about it?
6. Make sure you have a good idea of your partner’s finances before putting that ring on the finger
7. And lastly, if you have to have debt, do your best to make it student loan debt (although here’s a trick question for you – what’s worse, $15,000 in credit card debt or $50,000 in student loans? ;))

Stats aside, hopefully most of you already know all this and can pat yourself on the back for how far you’ve come.

If not, let this be a wake-up call and get those plans going!

The % of people who get to live their lives on their own terms without paying attention to money?

Zero.

******
Can’t get enough of these stats? Click here for more.

[This post, Could You Come Up With $2,000 in An Emergency?, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]