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At What Age Should I Be Debt-Free?

04.14.2021 by Harry //

While most people like to think that things were much better before the pandemic, in certain aspects, they weren’t at all. Case in point, consumer debt.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the average American carried $90,000 in debt, according to Experian research. 

How much debt you have depends on several factors, including income bracket, ethnicity, education, and many more. However, one of the biggest factors is age. People in their 20s and 30s are far more likely to have student loans than those in their 50s. 

But at what age should you be free of debt? In your late 30s maybe? The mid-40s? Or is it in the early 50s, perhaps? We’re about to find out. 

Major Sources of Debt in America

These days, it seems like everyone is in debt. With the state of the economy, it certainly isn’t surprising. Reasons for this range significantly. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest sources of debt in the United States:

Bad Budgeting

Money management is a skill that you need to learn as early as possible. Bad budgeting skills can land you in a lot of debt. To improve money management, you need to analyze income constantly. That way, you’ll be able to adjust your spending habits properly. 

Divorce Settlements

Divorce is never pleasant. It’s also one of the main causes of debt in the United States. Between hiring legal professionals and the settlement, it can be a pricey lifestyle change. If you’re still not married, and you want to avoid this pitfall, you should consider signing a prenuptial agreement. 

Credit Cards

Before making any purchase, stop to think if you can afford the item in question. Never pay more than you have. It’s simple as that. In case using your credit card isn’t avoidable, try to only buy things that can be paid off within the same month. 

The Average Debt by Age

It’s a safe bet that if you’re reading this, you have debt.

How much debt do you have?

When you have debt, it’s better to compare yourself to other people in your age group than to the average American consumer. 

Where you are in life impacts how much debt you have, significantly. Therefore, you should only compare yourself to people in a similar stage of life.

Below, you can find a breakdown of the average non-mortgage debt by age in the US: 

  • 18 – 24-year-olds = $11,000
  • 25 – 34-year-olds = $27,000
  • 35 – 49-year-olds = $33,000
  • 50 years or older = $26,000

When can you hope to pay off your debt?

Realistically, you can hope to pay off your debt by 45, according to Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary. At 45, you’ll enter the second half of your professional career and you’ll be able to ramp up your savings for retirement to ensure a comfortable life. 

How to Be Debt-Free by 45

How can you pay off your debt by the age of 45? You need to take a proactive approach. People who have paid off their debt early would advise you to come up with an investment plan, and invest your money wisely.  

Of course, making smart investments takes knowledge. To gather that knowledge takes time and patience, not to mention money. But it certainly isn’t impossible. Here are a few ways you can tackle debt and be free before you enter your 50s (https://time.com/nextadvisor/investing/retirement/investing-paying-off-debt/): 

  • Create an investment plan as soon as possible. Streamline your accounts, automate where you can, and create a monthly budget before you get started. If you can’t pay all of your debt right away, start with the most pressing one, like high-interest credit cards
  • Try to approach investing with a sense of urgency. Your goal isn’t only to pay off your debt but to start building wealth early and to retire at a relatively young age. Create new spending habits, to make sure not to create any more debt
  • Diversify your investment portfolio as much as you can. Remember, even though a retirement plan is a good place to start, investing should be exciting. Therefore, diversify your portfolio. Find investments that are meaningful to you

Get Out of Debt and Start Living Free

If you’re in your late 20s and you have a significant amount of debt, there’s no reason to panic.

There are hundreds of thousands of Americans in the same situation. Car payments, mortgages, and student loans all cost a lot. But you can pay them off earlier than you think.

Image credit: [karolina grabowska]

Categories // Debt, Debt Free Adventures, Life Missions, Money Management

Results of The Wardrobe Mission

03.28.2011 by Matt Jabs //

As an exercise in simple living, back in November of 2010 I wore one outfit for a month.  Here is how it affected my life…

Simple living revisited

From the original article:

“The purpose of this short term mission is to reduce my clothing from what I want to what I need. At the end of the 30 days, I will pare my wardrobe down to the essentials and will either sell the rest to repay debt, will give the excess to those in need, or some combination of both.”

As presupposed, occupying just one outfit for a month radically changed the make up of my wardrobe; and, how I view clothing.  It opened my eyes to what I actually need and taught me that I greatly prefer a simple wardrobe.  In fact, over the last four months I have happily worn just a handful of outfits.

So what did I do with all my excess clothing?  In a nutshell, I gave most of it away rather than trying to sell it to repay debt.  Betsy and I took approximately 85% to Goodwill – which filled 3, 30 gallon garbage bags.

It felt really, really good to give it away and get it out of my house!

My new wardrobe

Nowadays I buy limited amounts of high quality, high functioning clothing and typically wear an outfit for nearly a week before making a change.  I change into fresh unders daily while wearing the same shell outfit.  Sound gross?  It’s not at all.  If you think it is then I encourage you to try it before commenting contrariwise.

When faced with buying a new article of clothing I stop to think about what purpose it serves.  If the purpose is fashion, I keep my money in my wallet.  If the purpose is function, I carefully consider whether I already own something that can fill the need.

What about colors?  I remember going through my closet in college and saying to myself, “Everything I own is blue or gray!”  Turns out that was a good thing.  Darker, neutral colors like black, gray, and blue are easy to pair into multiples of outfits – which is precisely what I do now.

This isn’t for everyone

If you were forced into a situation where you only had a handful of outfits, I’m confident you would get along just fine.  That doesn’t mean you have to, or even should, I simply pointing out that you could.

Some people need a lot of clothing for their careers.  Others may find fashion enriches their lives and value their robust wardrobes.  All these things are fine… always remember that what is good for one person isn’t necessarily good for another.

If you have been thinking of paring down your wardrobe then I’m happy to encourage you by sharing my experience.

Results of the mission?

Mission accomplished!

I’m very happy with my new lease on clothing and view the Wardrobe Mission as a successful personal endeavor.

For more on this topic, check out DFA Missions.

Categories // Life Missions Tags // clothes, downsize, mission, simplify

The Bible Mission Reading Schedule

12.01.2010 by Matt Jabs //

Prelude info to The Bible Mission

Tomorrow I will publish a post describing The Bible Mission in greater detail, but wanted to get the reading schedule out to you today so those who wish to join can get started today and stay on schedule.

Beginning today – December 1st, 2010 – I will begin reading through the bible 7 times each year.  To accomplish this, approximately 23 chapters will need to be read each day.  To mix it up I have decided to split the reading into 3 daily chunks – Old Testament in the morning, Psalms in the afternoon, and New Testament in the evening.

Psalm 1:1-3 reads, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.  But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”

I think it’s high time I took the Lord seriously, took Him at His Word, and turned my desire toward Him by spending a good portion of my days reading His Word.  If we do so, the Lord promises to prosper us… and that is the relation to personal finance, although the prospering should not be your desire, a pure desire is a hunger for God’s Word alone.

The Bible Mission reading schedule

Download the reading plan.

Following this reading schedule will allow you to read through the bible seven times per year.  God bless.

Old Testament daily reading (morning)

Dec 01: Genesis 1-16
Dec 02: Genesis 17-28
Dec 03: Genesis 29-40
Dec 04: Genesis 41-Exodus 2
Dec 05: Exodus 3-16
Dec 06: Exodus 17-29
Dec 07: Exodus 30-Leviticus 2
Dec 08: Leviticus 3-14
Dec 09: Leviticus 15-26
Dec 10: Leviticus 27-Numbers 8
Dec 11: Numbers 9-21
Dec 12: Numbers 22-32
Dec 13: Numbers 33-Deuteronomy 8
Dec 14: Deuteronomy 9-24
Dec 15: Deuteronomy 25-Joshua 5
Dec 16: Joshua 6-18
Dec 17: Joshua 19-Judges 8
Dec 18: Judges 9-21
Dec 19: Ruth 1-1 Samuel 13
Dec 20: 1 Samuel 14-26
Dec 21: 1 Samuel 27-2 Samuel 12
Dec 22: 2 Samuel 13-24
Dec 23: 1 Kings 1-10
Dec 24: 1 Kings 11-22
Dec 25: 2 Kings 1-13
Dec 26: 2 Kings 14-1 Chronicles 1
Dec 27: 1 Chronicles 2-11
Dec 28: 1 Chronicles 12-26
Dec 29: 1 Chronicles 27-2 Chronicles 14
Dec 30: 2 Chronicles 15-31
Dec 31: 2 Chronicles 32-Ezra 10
Jan 01: Nehemiah 1-12
Jan 02: Nehemiah 13-Job 10
Jan 03: Job 11-27
Jan 04: Job 28-41
Jan 05: Job 42-Proverbs 13
Jan 06: Proverbs 14-26
Jan 07: Proverbs 27-Song of Solomon 1
Jan 08: Song of Solomon 2-Isaiah 14
Jan 09: Isaiah 15-36
Jan 10: Isaiah 37-55
Jan 11: Isaiah 56-Jeremiah 7
Jan 12: Jeremiah 8-24
Jan 13: Jeremiah 25-39
Jan 14: Jeremiah 40-Lamentations 1
Jan 15: Lamentations 2-Ezekiel 13
Jan 16: Ezekiel 14-26
Jan 17: Ezekiel 27-40
Jan 18: Ezekiel 41-Daniel 6
Jan 19: Daniel 7-Joel 2
Jan 20: Joel 3-Nahum 3
Jan 21: Habakkuk 1-Malachi 4

Psalms daily reading (afternoon)

Dec 01: Psalm 1-5
Dec 02: Psalm 6-8
Dec 03: Psalm 9-13
Dec 04: Psalm 14-17
Dec 05: Psalm 18
Dec 06: Psalm 19-21
Dec 07: Psalm 22-25
Dec 08: Psalm 26-29
Dec 09: Psalm 30-32
Dec 10: Psalm 33-34
Dec 11: Psalm 35-36
Dec 12: Psalm 37-38
Dec 13: Psalm 39-41
Dec 14: Psalm 42-44
Dec 15: Psalm 45-48
Dec 16: Psalm 49-50
Dec 17: Psalm 51-54
Dec 18: Psalm 55-57
Dec 19: Psalm 58-60
Dec 20: Psalm 61-64
Dec 21: Psalm 65-67
Dec 22: Psalm 68-69
Dec 23: Psalm 70-71
Dec 24: Psalm 72-73
Dec 25: Psalm 74-76
Dec 26: Psalm 77-78
Dec 27: Psalm 79
Dec 28: Psalm 80-82
Dec 29: Psalm 83-85
Dec 30: Psalm 86-88
Dec 31: Psalm 89
Jan 01: Psalm 90-93
Jan 02: Psalm 94-96
Jan 03: Psalm 97-101
Jan 04: Psalm 102-103
Jan 05: Psalm 104
Jan 06: Psalm 105-106
Jan 07: Psalm 107
Jan 08: Psalm 108-109
Jan 09: Psalm 110-113
Jan 10: Psalm 114-117
Jan 11: Psalm 118
Jan 12: Psalm 119
Jan 13: Psalm 120
Jan 14: Psalm 121
Jan 15: Psalm 122-124
Jan 16: Psalm 125-132
Jan 17: Psalm 133-135
Jan 18: Psalm 136-139
Jan 19: Psalm 140-143
Jan 20: Psalm 144-146
Jan 21: Psalm 147-150

New Testament daily reading (evening)

Dec 01: Matthew 1-5
Dec 02: Matthew 6-10
Dec 03: Matthew 11-13
Dec 04: Matthew 14-18
Dec 05: Matthew 19-22
Dec 06: Matthew 23-25
Dec 07: Matthew 26-28
Dec 08: Mark 1-4
Dec 09: Mark 5-8
Dec 10: Mark 9-11
Dec 11: Mark 12-14
Dec 12: Mark 15-Luke 1
Dec 13: Luke 2-5
Dec 14: Luke 6-8
Dec 15: Luke 9-11
Dec 16: Luke 12-14
Dec 17: Luke 15-18
Dec 18: Luke 19-21
Dec 19: Luke 22-24
Dec 20: John 1-4
Dec 21: John 5-7
Dec 22: John 8-10
Dec 23: John 11-13
Dec 24: John 14-18
Dec 25: John 19-Acts 1
Dec 26: Acts 2-6
Dec 27: Acts 7-9
Dec 28: Acts 10-14
Dec 29: Acts 15-18
Dec 30: Acts 19-22
Dec 31: Acts 23-27
Jan 01: Acts 28-Romans 4
Jan 02: Romans 5-9
Jan 03: Romans 10-15
Jan 04: Romans 16-1 Corinthians 6
Jan 05: 1 Corinthians 7-12
Jan 06: 1 Corinthians 13-16
Jan 07: 2 Corinthians 1-8
Jan 08: 2 Corinthians 9-Galatians 2
Jan 09: Galatians 3-Ephesians 3
Jan 10: Ephesians 4-Philippians 2
Jan 11: Philippians 3-1 Thessalonians 1
Jan 12: 1 Thessalonians 2-1 Timothy 2
Jan 13: 1 Timothy 3-2 Timothy 3
Jan 14: 2 Timothy 4-Hebrews 4
Jan 15: Hebrews 5-10
Jan 16: Hebrews 11-James 3
Jan 17: James 4-2 Peter 1
Jan 18: 2 Peter 2-1 John 5
Jan 19: 2 John 1-Revelation 5
Jan 20: Revelation 6-14
Jan 21: Revelation 15-22

Download the reading plan.

Customize your reading

Feel free to read the OT, Psalms, and NT readings all in one sitting if you prefer – or – read the daily chapters in whatever order and/or time of day you wish… the most important thing – and the underlying point – is simply to immerse yourself in the Word of God every day.  Let us bring the meaning of Psalm 1:1-3 to life!

Psalm 1:1-3 reads, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.  But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”

Again, the Lord promises to prosper us in this endeavor… and that is the relation to personal finance, although the prospering should not be your desire, a pure desire is a hunger for God’s Word alone.  God bless.

Categories // Life Missions, Spirituality Tags // jesus christ, mission, Spirituality

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Disclaimer

Content on Debt Free Adventure is for entertainment purposes only. Rates & offers from advertisers shown on this website may change without notice: please visit referenced sites for current information. Per FTC guidelines, this website may be compensated by companies mentioned through advertising, affiliate programs or otherwise. We respect your privacy. Privacy policy.

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