Are Americans Good at Personal Finance? 5 Facts on Personal Finance (2024)

This article has been reviewed by Sumeet Sinha, MBA (Emory University Goizueta Business School). Should you have any inquiries, please do not hesitate to contact at sumeet@finlightened.com.

Americans lead the world in many fields, but are Americans good at personal finance? Why is there so much credit card debt? Let’s take a look at some facts and numbers related to the state of personal finance in the United States.

Before we get into the numbers, let us also keep a very important thing in perspective. We are not judging anyone for not being ‘smart’ with money. There are hundreds of millions of people in the world, and everyone has a unique story – the house they grew up in, the values they were raised with, the financial situation they have been during their early years in life – all that goes into defining their risk tolerance and behavior with money. Our goal is to understand how we can get better at personal finance, in the best way we can.

Facts on Personal Finance in the United States of America

Did you know these five facts?

  1. 44% Americans don’t have cash reserve to cover an immediate $400 cost
  2. 43% Student Loan borrowers in America do not make regular monthly payments toward their loan
  3. 38% American households have average credit card debt of $16,000 at a high interest rate of 16% or more.
  4. 56% American adults have less than $10,000 saved for retirement
  5. According to economists, the Social Security Trust Fund might go bankrupt before year 2035.

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Financial Literacy Quiz

According to Fortune, two-thirds of Americans cannot pass a basic financial literacy quiz. Can you? Show your prowess in finance education by scoring 5/5.

Read This: Beginner’s Guide To Personal Finance

Saving vs Investing: Which is Better?

Investing involves risk, but over the long term, investors have seen better returns if they have been disciplined with regular investments in the market and maintaining a longer-term outlook. See below the scenario that compares a regular monthly investment of $1,000 in S&P 500 vs. the same investment in a savings account that offers 0.5% and 1% annual return.

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Despite temporary setbacks for market investors from time to time during the 15 year period, they gained much more by sticking to their investing approach.

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An investor who invested $1,000 per month in the S&P 500 from Jan 2005 to May 2020 would have about $337,000 in his investment account (considering he or she did not re-invest the dividends). A person saving $1,000 per month for the same period would have just about $200,500 in a 1% per year savings account.

Updated Chart: Saving vs Investing $1000 per month from Jan 2000 to Jan 2021

Despite market setbacks and periods of flat markets, the disciplined investor in S&P 500 came out ahead by sticking to the strategy of regular investing during Jan 2000 to Jan 2021. As observed, there were periods when the market investor fell behind, as denoted in the chart in February 2009, but staying invested enabled the investor to take advantage of the bull run that followed and beat the savings accounts by a huge margin.

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An investor who invested $1,000 per month in the S&P 500 from Jan 2000 to Jan 2021 would have about $657,000 in his investment account (considering he or she did not re-invest the dividends). A person saving $1,000 per month for the same period would have just about $281,500 in a 1% per year savings account.

Investing vs Debt Repayment: Still Paying off Student Loans?

Read my story here: How I paid off $100K student loan in 26 months

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Slay the Student Loan Debt Dragon, but first…

Adopt a balanced approach to plan for short, mid, and long-term financial security. Killing off the debt is important, but it is more important to win the long-term game.

Short term

Put cash away for surviving 3-6 months. You can use this cash and time to figure something out. An emergency fund will buy you time and you can maintain your sanity while you try to recover from a crisis.

Mid term

There’s a difference between trading and investing. For mid-term security, investing in broad market index funds is a great option. If you have an investment horizon of 3+ years, ETFs are a good place to start.

Long term

Okay, so this is the long-term game we need to win. Start with getting the maximum employer match on retirement accounts. Never leave free money on the table. Retirement date target funds are a good option, or if you have a little more risk appetite, and retirement is further away, investing in a broad market index fund is a good option too.

Interested in Getting Started With Investing but Unsure Where to Start?

We have some easy to understand resources for you.

  • Getting Started With Stocks
  • How to Start Investing With $20
  • What are ETFs?
  • Alternative Investments
  • Best Investment App: Feature by Feature Comparison

Recommended Books on Amazon

We believe these books on finance are great resources for developing a better understanding of money management and personal finance.

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The Intelligent Investor – Benjamin Graham

The Psychology of Money – Morgan Housel

The Millionaire Next Door – Thomas J Stanley, William D Danko

The links above are affiliate links. We may earn a small commission if you use them to make a purchase.

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Are Americans Good at Personal Finance? 5 Facts on Personal Finance (2024)

FAQs

What are the 5 points of personal finance? ›

They are saving, investing, financial protection, tax planning, retirement planning, but in no particular order.

What are the five 5 areas of personal finance? ›

What Are the Five Areas of Personal Finance? Though there are several aspects to personal finance, they easily fit into one of five categories: income, spending, savings, investing and protection. These five areas are critical to shaping your personal financial planning.

How are Americans' finances? ›

Currently, 72% of upper-income, 42% of middle-income and 25% of lower-income Americans rate their situation as excellent or good. Another question in the survey finds 62% of Americans saying they have enough money to live comfortably, similar to the 64% recorded last year but down from 2022 (67%) and 2021 (72%).

What are the 5 C's of personal finance? ›

The 5 C's of credit are character, capacity, capital, collateral and conditions. When you apply for a loan, mortgage or credit card, the lender will want to know you can pay back the money as agreed. Lenders will look at your creditworthiness, or how you've managed debt and whether you can take on more.

What are 3 facts about finance? ›

By budgeting wisely, you not only set aside more money for potential savings, but you also develop spending habits that serve you in the long term.
  • Fact #2—There's a Smart Way to Manage Debt. Many people find it helpful to understand the facts of managing debt wisely. ...
  • Fact #3—You Don't Have to Go it Alone.

What is the #1 rule of personal finance? ›

#1 Don't Spend More Than You Make

When your bank balance is looking healthy after payday, it's easy to overspend and not be as careful. However, there are several issues at play that result in people relying on borrowing money, racking up debt and living way beyond their means.

What are 5 personal finance strategies? ›

The five areas of personal finance are income, saving, spending, investing, and protection.

What are the 5 P's of finance? ›

The 5P's represent - People, Philosophy, Product, Process, Performance. In finance, the 5P's served as a rule-of-thumb guide for our evaluation of whether to invest in a particular fund - hedge funds or private equity funds in my context.

Are Americans financially well off? ›

At the end of 2022, 73 percent of adults were doing at least okay financially, meaning they reported either “doing okay” financially (39 percent) or “living comfortably” (34 percent). The rest reported either “just getting by” (19 percent) or “finding it difficult to get by” (8 percent).

Are Americans good with money? ›

Key Findings. 48.6% of Americans consider themselves to be “broke,” and 66.2% feel they are “living paycheck to paycheck.” There is a gender gap in the results: Females are more likely to consider themselves “broke” at 55.8%, compared to males at 41.1%.

What are the financial facts about Americans? ›

With this is mind, here are five scary financial facts as well as ways to avoid becoming a part.
  • 54% of Americans Live Paycheck to Paycheck.
  • Paying for an Emergency is Something 61% of Americans Cannot Do.
  • Only 24% Of Millennials Have Basic Financial Literacy.
  • 21% Of Americans Don't Save Anything from their Income.

What is the 4 rule personal finance? ›

What does the 4% rule do? It's intended to make sure you have a safe retirement withdrawal rate and don't outlive your savings in your final years. By pulling out only 4% of your total funds and allowing the rest of your investments to continue to grow, you can budget a safe withdrawal rate for 30 years or more.

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