Do you want average school grades, average restaurant food, average pay, or average anything at all? Of course not. When it comes to your financial life, this is far more important to avoid because the average person is horrific at money management, investing, or anything else money related.
The average person has many failures when it comes to money:
- Never learns how to manage money while growing up
- Never saves money before their 30s
- Takes out far too much in student loans for college
- Has credit card debt he or she cannot pay off
- Buys a car with an expensive loan, or worse, a lease
- Spends far too much on housing, vacations, and bars/restaurants
- Does not save nearly enough for retirement
If the average person is a financial calamity, then you may want to know their average behavior so that you can stay far ahead of them. For example, when the average household has less than $1,000 in savings for emergencies, you do not want to be average. When the average household has a net worth at a certain low level by a certain age, then you want your net worth to be far, far beyond that level.
I just learned two more average statistics today:
- The average Millennial spends more on coffee per week ($10) than they put toward retirement.
- The average college graduate defaults on (or doesn’t pay down) their student loans within 7 years.
It is common that you’ll come across many news headlines about average-money statistics. Keep in mind that if you are behaving like them, then you too are heading toward needless financial troubles. Please don’t be average.