The Ratio Over 40 %

Within debt there are subtopics that can be debated. We have the poor and the people who are living in poverty. Poverty is seen as a big problem within America. “It is defined as the state of not having enough

The Levy Institute: Recent Trends in Household Wealth in the United States: Rising Debt and the Middle-Class Squeeze: an Update to 2007 Statistics

In this essay I shall be discussing the factors which influence the level of and access to unsecured debt held by households.

Economic impact from rising student loan debt is being felt throughout the United States. According to research performed by the Pew Research Center and Rutgers, between 25-40% of 20- and 30-year-olds are delaying large purchases such as homes and cars (Daniels). The delay of such

1 Edward N. Wolff. “Recent trends in household wealth in the United States: Rising debt and the middle-class squeeze - an update to 2007,” Working Paper No. 589. Accessed January 13, 2013, http://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/wp_589.pdf

The U.S. economy is currently experiencing its worst crisis since the Great Depression. The crisis started in the home mortgage market, especially the market for so-called “subprime” mortgages, and is now spreading beyond subprime to prime mortgages, commercial real estate, corporate junk bonds, and other forms of debt. Total losses of U.S. banks could reach as high as one-third of the total bank capital. The crisis has led to a sharp reduction in bank lending, which in turn is causing a severe recession in the U.S. economy.

Another commercial that aired during the rerun of The Munsters highlights a government program designed to help homeowners pay off their mortgage with less anxiety. By middle or old age, many adults will have owned their homes for years, if not decades. Given the economic recessions of 2007 and 2010, mortgage payments are a significant worry that adults face as they get older. In the

The Baby-Boom generation is nearing retirement and it is clear that millions of aging Boomers are financially under prepared. Reasons are many - poor savings habits, rising medical costs, the demise of guaranteed corporate pensions, and the dreaded squeeze faced by many: i.e. having to pay college costs for their children, care for their elderly parents, and save for retirement, all at the same time.

I believe the most pressing issue facing the aging population on a daily basis is financial security while living on a fixed income. Aging individuals’ sources of income include Social Security, employment, private pensions, and assets. The median household income for those 65 and older in 2007 was only $27, 798 (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2011). I chose financial security as the most pressing issue facing the older population because it influences several other areas. Sources of income for the aging population are sometimes insufficient to maintain proper housing, may cause health problems, and restricts access to nursing homes and assisted living facilities. The difficulty that the lack of financial security can pose for an aging individual leads

Yuh, Montalto, and Hanna (1998) investigated the determinants of the likelihood of having adequate retirement wealth for pre-retirment households. Households were included in the study if the respondent was

Pre-retirees with medical debt were expected to accumulate a lower amount of financial resources as compared to pre-retirees not burdened with medical debt. However, the payment of installment loans by the household is not a significant predictor of financial assets in the model. Moreover, the payment on the first line of credit was not a statistically significant predictor of financial assets for pre-retirees. Conversely, vehicle payments and consumer loan payments are statistically significant predictors negatively impacting financial assets. These types of debts consist of items that are consumed quickly or that consistently depreciate over a short period of time. With easy access to these forms of credit, a significant number of pre-retirees are servicing credit card debt and paying

The extensive amount of national debt held by college graduates in federal student loans debt is affecting their ability to qualify for a home loan and a delay in housing market growth. Students coming out of college today have more federal student loan debt than ever and they’re coming into an economy that is under performing. The $1 trillion in student loan debt is starting to slow the economy just as the housing bubble created a mortgage debt problem. For couples looking to buy a house, it is more difficult to qualify for a home mortgage when even one of the buyers has student debt, and even harder if both buyers have student debt.

This study examines the "Debt Poor" defined by Pressman and Scott (2009) as individuals and families who have more consumer debts than those categorized as poor, but also do not qualify for government subsidies, such as Medicaid. The scholars argued that interest payments on consumer debt should be subtracted from household income to measure poverty, yet an estimated additional 4 million Americans from 2007, likely middle class once having access to considerable consumer credit following a loss of income put their living standard below the poverty threshold. In contrast, extensive evidence determines that the debt poor are slightly similar to the poor (they are unlikely to own a home or hold private health insurance), somewhat like middle-class

People have concerned that phenomenal expansion of America’s senior population will create a challenge for the government assistance programs such as Social Security and Medicare. Another group of people are concerned the Boomers have the potential to agitate the economy as they indulge in spending a phenomenal portion of his or her assets at the same time. Boomers imprint is on every stage of American life he or she has passed through, and anticipation of seniors years will duplicate.

With the workforce in America decreasing due to hard economic times, there is no guarantee the money put into the reserve will sufficiently support a generation when it is time for retirement. Depending on Social Security to support a person financially when ready to retire, will leave that individual in even more of a struggle than the beneficiaries trying to survive in these earlier years of the 21 century. Social Security benefits represent about 41% of the income of the elderly; if there is not enough to support even half of the elderly’s financial needs now, there is no reason a younger person should depend on it alone for retirement (Dewitt, 2010) in the future.