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The Importance Of Thrift
Wealth inspiration part 27.
Wisdom can often come in small packages, and wisdom about building wealth is no different.
Today’s quote is from Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers of the United States, its third president, and a political philosopher:
“Never spend your money before you have earned it.”
This concept seems simple enough, but too many no longer follow it.
In the days of easy credit, people are paying for all kinds of things that they can’t really afford.
According to Statista, US household debt was $15.24 trillion as of Q3 2021. Here is their chart showing how much is from different categories:
As you can see, mortgage debt is by far the largest category of household debt in the US.
This article from Bankrate gives the average debt per consumer by category in 2020 (keep in mind most households have multiple consumers):
- Mortgage — $208,000
- Home equity (HELOC) — $42,000
- Student Loan — $39,000
