Seniors tend to hold less debt than younger Americans, but they also face more hurdles in paying it down. The average baby boomer, aged 59 to 77, carried $19,203 in non-mortgage debt in the second quarter of 2023, according to Experian, the data analytics company.
Analysis of the debt share in the U.S. shows that people aged 40-49 hold the largest amount of debt at $4.21 trillion in total. People aged 50-59 have the most credit card debt in total at $0.21 trillion, and people aged 30-39 have the most student loan debt at $0.5 trillion.
Being debt-free — including paying off your mortgage — by your mid-40s puts you on the early path toward success, O'Leary argued. It helps you free yourself from financial obligations at a time when your income is presumably stable and potentially even growing.
The Average Debt for People Aged 55-64
Between the ages of 55 and 64, many Americans start to think about retirement. But among heads of household who have debt and are in this age bracket, average debt levels stand at $145,740. They might have assets in excess of this debt, but they might have negative net worth.
If you retire with $500k in assets, the 4% rule says that you should be able to withdraw $20,000 per year for a 30-year (or longer) retirement.
But retiring with debt is an entirely different story. The challenge of living comfortably on a fixed income becomes even more difficult when you must pay recurring bills with interest. However, according to a study by the personal finance site MagnifyMoney, 46% of all Americans are expecting to retire in debt.
Average credit card debt by age in 2023 (USD)
18 to 29 year olds carry the least at $2900, while those in their forties carry the most at $7600. These figures show that, generally speaking, cardholders aged 30–64 possess more than the estimated credit card debt national average.
Overall, the national average card debt among cardholders with unpaid balances in the fourth quarter of 2023 was $6,864, down from $6,993 in the third quarter. That includes debt from bank cards and retail credit cards.
Myth 1: Being debt-free means being rich.
A common misconception is equating a lack of debt with wealth. Having debt simply means that you owe money to creditors. Being debt-free often indicates sound financial management, not necessarily an overflowing bank account.
Key takeaways. Debt-to-income ratio is your monthly debt obligations compared to your gross monthly income (before taxes), expressed as a percentage. A good debt-to-income ratio is less than or equal to 36%. Any debt-to-income ratio above 43% is considered to be too much debt.
Statistics vary, but between 55 percent to 63 percent of Americans are likely living paycheck to paycheck.
The general rule of thumb is that you shouldn't spend more than 10 percent of your take-home income on credit card debt.
Retiree Debt Is Real, and Growing
Debt in retirement is a complicated issue, as discussed in a recent publication by Boston College's Anqi Chen, Siyan Liu and Alicia Munnell. Retiree debt is growing and has been since the mid-90's. Today about 60% of Americans over 65 owe money.
Around 23% of Americans are debt free, according to the most recent data available from the Federal Reserve. That figure factors in every type of debt, from credit card balances and student loans to mortgages, car loans and more. The exact definition of debt free can vary, though, depending on whom you ask.
You may hear that seniors shouldn't worry about old debts. This is partially, but not completely, true. Many seniors are “judgment proof,” which means their income is derived from retirement, Social Security, or other accounts that can't be garnished.
Running up $50,000 in credit card debt is not impossible. About two million Americans do it every year. Paying off that bill? Well, that's not impossible either, though it is considerably less fun.
After several tumultuous years for the U.S. economy, the weight of consumer credit card debt has become increasingly burdensome. In fact, an average of 22.6% of American credit cardholders across the 100 largest metros have balances of at least $10,000 — an increase of 45.8% from 2019 and 32.9% from 2021.
In the U.S., the average credit score is 716, per Experian's latest data from the second quarter of 2023. And when you break down the average credit score by age, the typical American is hovering near or above that score.
$5,000 in credit card debt can be quite costly in the long run. That's especially the case if you only make minimum payments each month. However, you don't have to accept decades of credit card debt. There are a few things you can do to pay your debt off faster - potentially saving thousands of dollars in the process.
Average consumer household debt in 2023
The New York Fed's quarterly Household Debt and Credit Survey (HHDC) shows that total consumer debt stands at $17.29 trillion as of the third quarter of 2023. That's a record high. According to Experian, average total consumer household debt in 2023 is $103,358.
Key Takeaways. Retiring with little to no money saved is not impossible, but it can present some challenges to your financial plan. Depending on where you're starting from, you may need to delay Social Security benefits, work longer, or drastically reduce expenses to retire with no money saved.
The average retirement savings for all families is $333,940 according to the 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances. Taken on their own, those numbers aren't incredibly helpful. There are a variety of decent retirement savings benchmarks out there, but how much money other people have isn't one of them.
Other types of debt—personal loans, credit cards, and auto loans, for example—tend to have higher interest rates and lack any potential tax benefits. These kinds of debt should "retire" before you do, because they can eat into your savings and reduce your standard of living.