Debt and Covid-19

 I sat and read a piece today....where journalists wanted me to know that 63-percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.....since Covid-19 started up.

I kind of sat there for a while....then looked up the pre-Covid-19 numbers.

Market Watch did a good update in January 2020 (before Covid-19 arrived). 

Their data....before Covid?  From Americans making $50k or less....74-percent were living paycheck to paycheck.

In fact, they went to suggest that from the $50k to $100k Americans....around one-third of them were in serious trouble, and making it by a paycheck to paycheck situation.

Then they went to the folks making $150k or more a year....one in four families were bad off, and suffering from a paycheck to paycheck situation.

So....suggesting now (14 Feb 2021) that 63-percent of Americans are bad off....if you use the 2020 statistical data.....they actually better now than before Covid.  

I am reminded of a DC story from the 2011/2012 era.  The local paper wrote up this piece of a couple who were about to default on their home loan.  The guy was pulling in around $130k a year....the wife was making near $160k a year.  Between credit debt, car loans (both had high-end cars that were valued at $40k or more), and a home that was up over $1-million....they weren't going to make it.   

The key thing here....people just aren't equipped to handle mortgages, loans, credit cards or living within your means.  They leave high school without this skill.  They leave college without this skill.  Then they get themselves deep into a mess with no real way to escape.  

So when you hear chatter about financial woes and want to get all hyped up....consider that it wasn't Covid-19 that got these people into serious issues.