Are there any statistics? Estimates? Guesstimates? Average networth ignores that wealthy individuals like Warren Buffett or Bill Gates may inflate the average figure of thousands, perhaps even millions of negative-networth ones.
I'm remembering a very old and very interesting report from census bureau, http://www.census.gov/sipp/workpapr/wp233.pdf who says only first decile of families has a negative net worth. I have no doubt the situation is worse today, but I can't prove it. You can find a graph on that report to see yourself, including values for the other deciles. Same source has published very different data (even for years covered by former report) at http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2010/tables/10s0705.pdf (I don't really understand the difference, seems to me that this data do not include mortages and other debts, but it is unclear to me, they say it is net worth). If you find more insightful data, please post the link here. HS
The Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) is a triennial survey of the balance sheet, pension, income, and other demographic characteristics of U.S. families. The survey also gathers information on the use of financial institutions. No other study for the country collects comparable information. Data from the SCF are widely used, from analysis at the Federal Reserve and other branches of government to scholarly work at the major economic research centers. http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/oss/oss2/scfindex.html
the question is What % of American households have a positive networth at all after the next dip in the economy. does it matter if the government takes care of you. I understand if is the biggest word in the english language.
Simple observations signal that much more than 10% of households have a negative net worth. I'd place an estimate, based on my personal observations from 33% to 50% of households. If they don't include mortagages, then their statistic is useless. It's amazing (sad) to witness that they start getting debt everytime earlier (college grads as you said) and to buy even dumber things (booze). At least this is (supposed to be) a form of investing. True, as bad as it is, it will get way worse.
What % of us have a Positive Net Worth counting all debt? NET? I'd imagine 20%. Gross%? Probably 25%. Then there's everyone else. If you count default swaps, the vast majority of US financial corps are underwater for the next 2 or 3 eons.
I cannot say this public data isn't useful, but why they do not disclose break down figures for first 50% of population? What happened is surely more evident on first, second and probably third decile, but I haven't found any of this figures, only a whole 50%. Not very useful, IMHO. Any chance to find base data for SCF figures?