Just a discussion thread, but I feel like this is a good bowl to ask this. Does anyone else look at the vast majority of folks around you and think “damn, we are so over leveraged as a society?” Or am I just crazy?

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Personally, being leveraged at a low interest rate and investing that money on a growing asset that gives greater returns is not a bad idea.

likesmart

You just need to make sure the asset is growing

Not all leverage is the same. Not all leverage is bad. Leverage should not be shunned just because it’s leverage. Buying a home with a mortgage at 3 percent and not immediately paying it back, but instead investing excess funds into a 401k ? Perfectly sensible use of leverage. Taking out a second mortgage on your home to yolo into 3x leveraged etfs? Ridiculously foolish use of leverage.

likesmart

Yes, but at the same time, in the US, it’s been super easy to get credit for a long time. People have been over leveraged for decades in order to afford a new car they don’t need, new electronics, etc. So while I think it’s bad, I also think it’s nothing new.

Depends what you mean by "leveraged." When I read your question I thought about my neighbors, how many cars they have, and how much they seem to eat out,and how much they pay monthly for stupidly running their A/C (when they're not home), and I think....there's no way they have a greater take-home pay on average, but they are spending WAY more than we are as a household. They're obviously living a leveraged lifestyle (funded by cc and mortgage debt). So yes, I think our middle class society is tremendously leveraged. Too much so.

Other respondents (below) are regarding this question as one of leveraged investments. I'd say the same thing that gets you into the trouble above is what gets you into trouble with investment leverage. Not looking at the big picture, long term, and thinking you can take a bunch of short cuts. A small amount of leverage that you can bear to lose on isn't dumb; it's a choice driven by your risk profile. A large amount of leverage that you cannot bear to lose in is dumb.

Teradata - the first part of this response is what I’m mostly referring to, but overall yes, well said.

Personal finance fascinates me. I think about things like this often.

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