Australian debt plays a major role in our economy. At grass root level it has had many effect on how people spend, and what type of loans they take out to refinance needs such as cars and credit cards to help us in our day to day lives. However, with all the recent news in the rise of personal loan debt should we be worried.
What makes up personal loan debt?
Personal loan debt is part of many other loan debts that contribute to how much Australia owes. Recent data by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed that these were the 5 categories for reasons why people take out personal loans:
The most popular reason why people will take out a personal debt is to pay off their mortgages. Purchasing a home can be expensive. Most people buy homes not only to just live in, but to own one day. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data analysed in the AMP. NATSEM report revealed that owner-occupier housing accounts for 56.3% of all personal debt in Australia.
| Most popular categories for personal loan | Estimated no. of Australians |
| Car/vehicle | 1.342 million |
| Debt consolidation | 399,000 |
| Holiday | 381,000 |
| Student loan/education | 381,000 |
| Payday loan | 181,000 |
Current Australian debt in numbers
As a nation we currently owe $2 trillion in debt. According data released by finder, this means that when this number is broken down the average Australian household owes $250,000. The rest of the $2 trillion is split into things such as Investor debt, which is associated with investments in rental properties and shares that make up 36.5% in household debt. Student debt which comes from student loans make up 2.1%, and credit card debt which contributes 1.9% in terms of household debts.
Is this a good thing or a bad thing?
One of the questions you might have is knowing whether this is a good or bad thing? But most importantly how it will affect you on a personal level. Debt is not always a bad thing. Every country uses debt to generate wealth that will help strengthen its economy in the long run. This is known as good debt. Australia as a country is still above the good debt line with 56.3% going towards home loans and 36.5% in investments which shows that 92.8% is going towards wealth creation. However, it becomes a problem when the debt it takes on is more than the money it can generate.
This can cause its economy to buckle, or possibly even crash due to the huge payments it must pay back resulting in thousands of jobs being lost. This is on a grandeur scale. When brought down to the average home in Australia this can either work on building a life that is secured with a roof over your head that belongs to you, but it can also create household stress.
Over 150,000 calls were made to the National Debt Helpline showing the financial stress people are undergoing. A recent Digital Finance Analytics survey reported that of the 3.1 million mortgaged households, an estimated 669,000 are now experiencing mortgage stress.
Where to from here?
How you measure whether you are in good or bad debt depends on two factors:
- Are you taking out personal loans that you can pay back? That means taking out a loan that doesn’t take up more than 40% of your salary.
- Is it going to generate wealth and leave you in ownership?
If that is not the case, then it’s time to speak to a financial advisor who can help you manage your debt better in a way that won’t financially cripple you. A few quick things that can help you is to consolidate your bad debt, create a budget that will assist you in making payments and reducing unnecessary spending, or set up a regular savings account. In the end you need to invest more into things that give you peace of mind and financial freedom.