Do you owe more than $26k, not including a mortgage?

[Thorin]

This article says the average Canadian owes about $26,000 in non-mortgage debt, on their credit cards, car loans, student loans, lines of credit, and stuff like that.  When I first read that I was surprised to think that I'm way below that amount, but then I realized it's because I don't owe for my cars.

http://www.moneyville.ca/article/1000720--average-canadian-owes-26-000-excluding-mortgages

[Lazybones]

Excluding mortgage debt is cheating. At one point I was close to that amount then paid it / rolled it up when I purchased my next house.

Those that rent instead of owning would be more likely to fit that number especially if they financed a vehicle.

[Tom]

I sure as hell don't owe that much. Something like $13k.

[Lazybones]

http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/wealth-of-canadians-net-worth/

Networth is probably a better mesure of financial health.

How many renters have no debt but also no savings?

[Mr. Analog]

I think I'm around $21k

[Thorin]

Well, it is an average, so it's expected that some will be well below that average while others are well above it.

Not including mortgages seems like cheating, but remember that mortgages are supported by an asset worth more than the loan that is expected to increase in value, rather than decrease (as opposed to a car loan, which also is supported by an asset but that asset decreases in value).  This is more of a comparison of debts owed that don't appear to have collateral to claim on default.

Not including mortgages does mean that anyone who rolled other debts into their mortgage when their property's value spiked between 2005 and 2008 is showing kinda low for this comparison.  But still, the bank doesn't let you borrow more than a certain percentage of the market value of your property, and when rolling extra debt into the mortgage, they're somewhat conservative on the amount you can borrow as well as the market value.

http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/wealth-of-canadians-net-worth/

Networth is probably a better mesure of financial health.

How many renters have no debt but also no savings?

That article is five years out of date, just at the start of the Great Upswing or whatever they call that period.  Lots of people's net worth went up because of the housing value boom.  If we were to look at net worth at the end of 2008, I'm sure those numbers would be noticeably lower.  Nevertheless, net worth is an important indicator of financial health.

How much you own, how much you make, how much you owe, put them all together to get a real feel for how you're doing.

All I know is I can't go more than a few months with no work before I'm all tapped out.  Four or five at the most.  And if I do that, it'll put me in dire financial straits for at least a year after.  Although if I'm not working and have to sell the house I'll still get a large sum of money back form the sale, plus own a couple cars and all the furnishings and clothing I need.

And that's kinda how I measure financial health - is there enough resiliency to be able to handle a life-changing event such as a layoff, an injury, etc.

[Thorin]

I think I'm around $21k

I owe less than you?  Yay!  It'll take me longer to pay off than you?  Damn kids!

[Mr. Analog]

I think I'm around $21k

I owe less than you?  Yay!  It'll take me longer to pay off than you?  Damn kids!

Wow that made me feel a whole lot better about it...

[Thorin]

Not sure if there's sarcasm or anything in your last post there...  All I know is current plans show it taking longer than two to three years to pay mine off.

[Mr. Analog]

Not sure if there's sarcasm or anything in your last post there...  All I know is current plans show it taking longer than two to three years to pay mine off.

Well then it's a race! *puts on top hat*

Let's see who can get out of debt first!

[Lazybones]

http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

Thought of this thread.

Interesting that the wealth distribution for Canada and the US is similar yet like Sweden we tax the rich more to try and retain some balance.

[Thorin]

Not sure if there's sarcasm or anything in your last post there...  All I know is current plans show it taking longer than two to three years to pay mine off.

Well then it's a race! *puts on top hat*

Let's see who can get out of debt first!

I think you're already way in the lead.  <looks at $4k spent on sports registration and equipment before the season even starts>

http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

Thought of this thread.

Interesting that the wealth distribution for Canada and the US is similar yet like Sweden we tax the rich more to try and retain some balance.

HOLY long read!  Nice to see a bunch of numbers supporting the claims that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

[Darren Dirt]

HOLY long read!  Nice to see a bunch of numbers supporting the claims that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

1. http://www.google.com/search?q=lyrics+kill+the+rich+anti-flag
2. http://www.google.com/search?q=lyrics+eat+the+rich
3.
4. PROFIT!

imo.

[Thorin]

I'm not sure that eating the rich would be such a good idea - they're all skinny and old.  Although...  Buffett buffet?

Anyway, here's hoping Canada sticks to being less focused on making the rich richer (as evidenced by that long-read article).

[Thorin]

A year later, and apparently our average debt is a few hundred dollars higher: http://www.moneyville.ca/blog/post/1245843--average-canadian-owes-26-000-excluding-mortgage

Still right near the $26k amount for non-mortgage debt, though.

Not sure if there's sarcasm or anything in your last post there...  All I know is current plans show it taking longer than two to three years to pay mine off.

Well then it's a race! *puts on top hat*

Let's see who can get out of debt first!

I went decidedly in the wrong direction this year - with CowGirl not working for six months, we have significantly more non-mortgage debt now than we did this time last year.