15 facts to show U.S. households are on brink of financial collapse

Economists and the Federal Reserve may argue that the United States economy is improving and returning to pre-recession levels, but households aren’t sharing that same level of enthusiasm. With trillions of dollars in consumer debt, higher price inflation and a lack of income gains, households are facing financial disarray.

Today’s environment of record-low interest rates, growing bubbles and the perpetual myth that things are getting better have greatly contributed to households’ determination of keeping up with the Joneses and getting as much into debt as possible. Ostensibly, they haven’t learned their lessons from the economic collapse.

As many contrarian investors have presented the case, the Great Recession that unfolded a few years ago is just the beginning, and consumers have to be prepared for the coming economic collapse. If interest rates do rise later this year then consumers risk being buried even deeper and shackled to the chains of debts.

It isn’t just cynicism and fear of a financial collapse at the micro level. Here are 15 facts to show households are on the brink of a personal financial collapse:

1. In total, U.S. consumers are in the red by nearly $12 trillion, and the amount of debt continues to increase by roughly three percent each year.
2. The average credit card debt per consumer is $15,611 (in total it’s $882.6 billion).
3. The delinquency rate for mortgages is just under four percent.
4. Millennials are already immensely indebted and could face perpetual debt during their remaining days. Student loan debt has already surpassed all forms of other consumer debt as it has reached $1.13 trillion, an increase of eight percent from the previous year.
5. The student loan delinquency rate stands at just under 14 percent.
6. Close to half of all U.S. household report “they spend all of their income, go into debt or dip into savings to meet their annual expenses.”
7. The national personal savings rate is 4.9 percent, down from nearly 20 percent in 1970.
8. More than one-third (36 percent) of U.S. workers have saved less than $1,000.
9. One-third of U.S. retirees entirely rely on Social Security in their retirement.
10. The U.S. is about $6.8 trillion short of the money they will need for retirement.
11. Just 38 percent of Americans would have enough money to cover an unexpected expense. The rest of the consumers who do not have the necessary funds would slash their spending, use their credit cards or borrow money from friends or relatives.
12. Eighteen percent of Americans maintain a budget in their heads.
13. Fewer than half (44 percent) of seniors have enough money to pay for an emergency. This is slightly higher than the 33 percent of millennials.
14. Most Americans can’t afford their house: 52 percent of homeowners “have had to make at least one major sacrifice in order to cover their rent or mortgage over the last three years.”
15. Thirty-seven percent of Americans think they’re too broke to save.