06/25/2026
The average American household takes home $5,800 a month after taxes.
By the time you pay housing, transportation, food, and healthcare, before a single debt payment, $1,211 is left.
Then the debt hits.
Student loans: −$300�Credit card minimum: −$132
What's left: $779.
For retirement. Emergency fund. Everything irregular. Everything unexpected.
And the median American aged 55–64 has $185,000 saved against a $1.46 million target.
This isn't a budget problem. It's a default path problem. And the default path is broken.
I ran the full math in a video I posted last night. Link in the comments if you want to see every number.