My Retirement Blog

The Average American Financial Quiz Results

The following is a post from staff writer Crystal at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff, where she writes about finding the balance between paying your bills, saving for your future, and budgeting for the fun stuff along the way.

I was taking a look at The Average American Finance Quiz at Yahoo Finance and the results are pretty sad.

Here’s where the majority of Americans fall:

  1. More than $15,000 in credit card debt.
  2. More than 3 credit cards.
  3. Most carry Visa.
  4. The “average American consumer” spends 34% of their income on housing.
  5. The “average American” only saves 6% of their total income.
  6. The median household income is $49,777.
  7. 77% of working-age Americans plan to retire using social security or continue working into their golden years. The same question said 75% said they would use employee-sponsored savings plans too, so this whole thing confused me.
  8. The average credit score is 692.

Here’s how we stack up:

  1. We have no credit card debt. Well, we have somewhere between $0-$2500 at any given time but it’s paid off EVERY month.
  2. We do have more than 3 credit cards that we use for cash back rewards. We actually have 5 or more, but we just haven’t cancelled a few accounts.
  3. We do carry Visa and Discover. Specifically, we carry a Discover More card, a PenFed Visa, and a CitiForward Visa.
  4. We spend less than 20% on our housing costs including our mortgage, principal overpayment, property taxes, and insurance. To be fair though, it’s pretty easy to find a cheap home in Houston, Texas.
  5. We save 35-40% of our income. It just makes me feel more secure to live on my husband’s salary and save my own.
  6. We make between $80,000-$85,000 a year jointly. Last year, we also made an additional $10,000 between blogging (me) and sports officiating (my husband).
  7. We plan on using hubby’s pension, my 401(k), Roth IRA’s, stock dividends, and cash for our retirement.
  8. We each have a credit score in the “Excellent” range (750-850).

What do you think about the overall results? How do you stack up against the “average American consumer”?

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Andy Hough

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5 responses to “The Average American Financial Quiz Results”

  1. Weekly Favorites, Gratitude, and Giveaways! | Budgeting In the Fun Stuff

    […] am also a new staff writer for My Retirement Blog and posted The Average American Financial Quiz Results on […]

  2. Emily

    Just goes to show you how brainwashed Americans are about Social Security. Also a sad commentary on how we have lost the independence and entrepreneurial mindset of our Founding Fathers.

  3. Bill

    The question about using Social Security and the other about using employer-sponsored programs are not in disagreement. The first did not say ONLY Social Security and the other was not ONLY employee-sponsored plans. I am retired using both. I was not confused by the results.

  4. Banjo Steve

    The majority of Americans have over $15,000 in credit card debt????!!!?? OMIGOSH! And people are complaining about too much taxation? After being so quick to stay with the outrageous interest that they pay on these debts?

    Why doesn’t the public get mad at the right people?!

  5. Ron

    Most social security systems in western countries are in trouble. Why? The baby boom after WW2 is now retiring and there is not enough people to support the system.