Chris Adams

There's an interesting report on middle-class finances:

Fifty-two percent of middle-class fami- lies have no net financial assets at all and therefore could not meet three-quarters of their essential expenses for any length of time. On average, a middle-class family has a monthly before-tax income of $4,898 and spends $3,360 per month on essential living expenses.9 Housing constitutes $1,158 of those expenses per month. The average middle-class family is $8,328 in debt and holds net financial assets of $9,918. Middle-class families have a median debt of $3,500 and median net assets of $0. This debt includes student, medical and personal loans, and credit card debt. It does not include mortgages or vehicle or business loans.