$19,100,000,000,000: Americans Are Drowning In The Largest Ocean Of Consumer Debt In The History Of The World

Michael Snyder is the publisher of , The American Dream Blog and The Truth

Total household debt in the United States just hit a brand new all-time record high. For a large portion of the U.S. population, debt is a suffocating financial reality that never goes away. Millions upon millions of Americans found themselves drowning in debt the instant that they left college, and a very large percentage of them will still be deep in debt when they die. The entire system is designed to get us into debt and keep us there. Because a college education has become so expensive, most Americans have to go into debt to get one. Once you get out of school, you rapidly discover that you are going to have to go into more debt to get a vehicle or buy a home. And don’t even get me started on medical debt. Most Americans, and this is especially true for those under the age of 40, are carrying mountains of soul-crushing debt. This is one of the primary reasons why young adults seem to be so angry all the time.

Many Americans that purposely tried to stay out of debt by living a frugal lifestyle have now been forced to take on debt by the rising cost of living.

At this stage, approximately 63 percent of all U.S. adults are living paycheck to paycheck, and 44 percent of Americans struggle to pay for even the most basic necessities.

When you are living right on the edge, it is so easy to go into debt when an unexpected expense suddenly arises.

You tell yourself that you are going to pay it off right away, but then something else comes up next month.

Of course if you end up getting sick and have to go to the hospital, that can set you back financially for years.

I can understand why millions of young people say that they are sick and tired of playing the game.

This week, we learned that total household debt in the United States has reached an all-time record high of 19.1 trillion dollars…

Total household debt rose $334 billion in the third quarter, to $19.1 trillion, according to new data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Even if we added nothing to that total from now on, it would take us approximately 52,293 years to pay off 19.1 trillion dollars of household debt at a rate of 1 million dollars per day.

Of course we are never going to pay off all that debt, are we?

The system is designed to keep increasing the total amount of household debt so that financial institutions can get even wealthier.

Credit card debt is among the most insidious forms of debt.

Last quarter, the total amount of credit card debt in the U.S. rose to a new record high of 1.29 trillion dollars…

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s latest Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit, released November 10, credit card balances increased by $22 billion during the third quarter, reaching $1.29 trillion.

That’s a 1.7% increase from the previous quarter and approximately 4.2% more than a year earlier.

The increase comes as American households continue to struggle with the cumulative effects of inflation, elevated borrowing costs, and other pressures on family budgets.

This should deeply alarm all of us.

According to Consumer Affairs, credit card balances have “increased by approximately 61% over the past five years”…

Credit card balances have increased by approximately 61% over the past five years, according to an analysis of the Fed’s data by American Banker. The total first crossed the $1 trillion threshold in 2023.

Sadly, we owe even more than that on our auto loans and our student loans…

Auto loan balances increased by $21 billion to $1.73 trillion, while student loan balances rose by $5 billion to $1.66 trillion.

Home equity lines of credit increased by $23 billion to $481 billion, the largest quarterly increase in that category since 2005.

The average length for a loan on a new vehicle is now 69 months.

The reason why payments are being stretched out for so long is because the average price of a new vehicle has hit $51,109…

The average price of a new vehicle in the US has climbed to a record $51,109, according to a new Cox Automotive report citing Kelley Blue Book data. Combined with new-car loan rates near their highest levels since the mid-2000s, record sticker prices are putting vehicle ownership increasingly out of reach for many working-class folks, even before insurance, fuel and maintenance costs are factored in.

The vast majority of Americans cannot afford to purchase a new vehicle.

In fact, used vehicles are now out of reach for much of the population.

Our standard of living is declining right in front of our eyes, and that should be obvious to everyone.

When I was growing up, homes were being rapidly constructed all over the country and they were quite affordable.

But now homes are insanely expensive and home sales just fell to their lowest level in 16 years as a result…

Home sales declined in October to their lowest level since 2010, a new trough for a housing market that has been hovering near rock bottom for more than four years.

Sales of existing homes fell 5.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.75 million, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday, marking the steepest decline since January. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected a decline of 3.8%.

This is not what prosperity looks like.

Decades of very foolish decisions have destroyed our standard of living, and the outlook for the future is exceedingly bleak.

U.S. households are 19 trillion dollars in debt, and the federal government is 40 trillion dollars in debt.

How can anyone possibly claim that this is going to end well?

Earlier today, I came across an article about the sinking of the SS United States…

The historic SS United States, once the fastest ship on the seas, made a slow final journey beneath the waters Wednesday.

The famous ocean liner — which is longer than the Titanic and crossed the Atlantic more than 800 times — was deliberately sunk Wednesday to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, where the once-luxurious behemoth was set to begin a new chapter as the world’s largest artificial reef.

It was a long goodbye.

Hours after the sinking began on a cloudy afternoon, much of the hulking ship could still be seen in the dark waters off the coast of the Florida Panhandle by nightfall.

Just like that ship, our economy was once a magnificent vessel.

But now it is also sinking.

Previous generations handed us the keys to the most robust economy in the history of the world and we wrecked it.

We obviously did not learn anything from our mistakes, because we just elected the worst group of lawmakers that I have ever seen.

It has been said that debt is the worst form of poverty.

In other words, owing money is worse than simply having nothing at all because you are starting below zero.

Our leaders were able to keep the party going for a long time, but now a moment of reckoning is at hand and the collapse that is starting to unfold is going to be incredibly painful.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

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