Today I’ve got some intriguing financial statistics you may find enlightening, laughable, or perhaps even a bit sad or puzzling. They come from the Statistic Brain Research Institute, which strives to provide “accurate and timely statistics…to educate, assist, and sometimes entertain.”
“I only believe in statistics that I doctored myself” ~ Winston S. Churchill
Occasionally I visit their site when researching for an article since they claim to provide “numbers on every subject.”They’ve seven main topics – business, media, finance, geographic, demographic, technology, and sports, and while their information may not always be the latest and the greatest, it can still be revealing.
“Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are pliable.” ~ Mark Twain
Whether these statistics strike you as seemingly accurate or way off base, I hope they’ll leave you thinking. Thinking about how you’re doing with your own finances. Examining whether you’re making the right choices today for financial freedom tomorrow. Considering if you are spending too much on useless stuff or are you investing enough for a secure retirement? Whatever you think, please don’t go dreaming of Cessnas and Mercedes before you’ve balanced your checkbook.
“There are three types of lies — lies, damn lies, and statistics.” ~ Benjamin Disraeli (or not)
Intriguing Financial Statistics
Okay, maybe not extraordinarily intriguing but at least interesting. All statistics were gathered in the last year, with information no older than 2016.
Net Worth – How do you compare with your age group?
Investing – Over 50% of Americans say they don’t have enough money to invest.
Bankruptcy – In 2016, over 780,000 Americans filed for bankruptcy.
Do You Balance Your Checkbook? – A whopping 69% of us don’t!
Retirement – Ugh! Clearly, the personal finance community needs to help educate the masses.
Women’s Retirement – Talk to your mom, your sister, your aunts, daughters, nieces, friends, help these women.
For those thinking about purchasing or renting a private jet – some numbers for your budget.
For those dreaming of a Mercedes or Jaguar – insurance rates you may face.
And finally, some statistics on resolutions – If you set any, are you still going strong?
I’m often astounded at financial statistics like these, especially the retirement and net worth statistics. Since I’ve immersed myself in the FI community and made good financial progress over the past few years, I sometimes forget that not everyone has gotten rid of their sexy vehicles for sexier finances. Some are still rolling the dice on their future. If that’s you, please reach out for help so you can get on your own secure path seeking financial independence.
Anything surprise you here?
For some additional spending statistics, check out Statistic Brain’s ‘How We Spend Our Money Results‘ to see how some 4,000 people answered questions about how they handle money, what factors influence their spending, and how they react when asked to share or spend their money freely.
I don’t get the fascination some people have for cars and boats. Luckily, Mr. Groovy doesn’t either. I don’t know what’s more frightening, the statistics on those motorized toys, or the median net worth figures.
I think for some it’s just an ego thing, Mrs. G. Right? Both are pretty scary.
Average Net Worth for 55-64 is $843K in first chart but $45K in the Retirement chart, wonder which one is correct or I am reading it wrong?
Either way I agree with you, we need to do a better job to educate/help people with their finances.
Good catch, Caroline. All depends on who they are surveying I guess lol. Hence my title, maybe they’re all just lies anyway. 🙂
Welp, this is incredibly depressing. I think I have too many FI friends (like 2 lol) and read too many blogs with early retires that I have such a warped version of the world!
Didn’t mean to depress you, sorry! But yeah reading FI and RE blogs changes your perspective. I’m just glad we’re on this side.
Median versus average always interests me because they are usually very different numbers. And numbers in NYC look very different from Texas, of course. But I agree, being in the personal finance bubble sure make the money numbers look way off no matter what.
It is amazing how different the median and mean can be. And right, different states and heck even different counties within one state can have vastly different numbers. Proves we need to be careful of what we read and believe.
So true. For example, we pay $700/mo for two days a week of childcare. An hour an a half south, it’s less than that for full time.
Wow, that’s a big difference. Mind boggling.
Well I guess we can cross the private jet off the list 🙂 I must admit, I don’t balance my checkbook. I do watch my accounts like a hawk though but not down to the penny. I know, shame on me!
Me too! Ha, but at least you keep a good watch on it. I happen to track mine on a spreadsheet…kind of a combined budget/cash flow/check register. It works for me but not sure I could explain it to anyone else lol
One of the “lies” is that the older people often have pensions which don’t show up in net worth. I think that is why the age groups 65 and older have lower net worth than the 45-54 group. The real trouble will begin when people without pensions get to retirement age. I feel most people are really not informed on retirement planning and we are at a time when it is all in people’s personal hands to tackle. It’s one of the reasons I started my blog — in hopes that I would spark some interest with my friends and family.
Thank you for the article. Very interesting stats, I mean lies!
I think you are so right, Susan. Many late Boomers and Gen X’ers are going to be in a tight financial spot. Let’s hope the PF community can make a difference with those who are lagging behind.
Those are real eye-openers! I have a friend who just loves driving fancy cars. He had a BMW a few years back and funny enough – it was too expensive to fix, so he let it sit in his driveway rotting while he purchased a brand new convertible Volvo. Idiot.
I would argue that balancing your checkbook is a 90s thing – with online banking, I just scan my debits to ensure there’s nothing goofy in there. Does that count? 🙂
Some guys and their cars. You get points for at least paying attention to your bank accounts. Since most people don’t write checks anymore either I think most of us will be excused.
We in the FI community are so careful about planning our retirement and tracking net worth. We forget that the rest of the world is just not there.
Exactly, DocG!
Oh, man, I look at those retirement statistics and I weep. Maybe I should invest in a trailer park? It looks like a large swath of future retirees is going to need super cheap housing. Meh.
I hear you, Mr. G. Maybe that’s why Mr. & Mrs. 1500 did invest in a trailer park. Hmm, you just might be on too something.
Argh, none of this is good news. We’ve got our work cut out for us educating people that there’s a better way!
I’ve recently done research regarding private jets and don’t worry…you can do plane sharing services that will “only” be a few hundred grand a year.
Yes, we do. Good to know! 🙂
Some of these numbers disagree with each other, which is why I don’t put too much stock in statistics like that. Statistics can only be relied upon when it’s something that is a more controlled entity. For instance if you read “here’s the number of registered drivers in Virginia”, you can be assured it’s a relatively accurate statistic because everyone in VA has to register to get a license and they have control over that number. But people’s finances and feelings such as things you posted in your article are all over the place, and there’s no single place to go to get accurate information, so I don’t put too much stock in them.
Yep. While they may not be damn lies, they sure aren’t something to put all your money on.
Yikes! Some of those stats are quite eye-opening.
Like the cost of jets or insurance for “gold-plated cadillacs”. Sorry, you won’t find me flying around in a private jet or driving one of those money-draining status symbols.
[It’s like the old joke.
Question: What is a pleasure boat?
Answer: A hole in the water where all the money goes.]
The numbers around people with insufficient money to retire or take care of themselves.. this is sad and depressing. I am so grateful that for some unknown ungodly reason I ended in fair shape.
Blogging is a good way to speak your peace and spread the positive news about being frugal and taking care of oneself. I applaud it. Sometime I begin to think that there are too many PF bloggers around, but when I read those statistics, I realize there probably are not enough.
Anyway, you say you live at 25 addresses. Made me think… so I sat down and counted my journey… I got up to 19 addresses, and I probably forgot a few.
Yes, I’d agree there’s a lack of financial education out there and the more people blogging/talking about it the better. Just look around you and you can see it.
Haha yes, lots of moves. Gives us lots of experiences. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by and commenting!