Wages are falling, debt is rising – sounds like you? Well here is a Fed article:
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) – Americans’ net worth grew between 2001 and 2004, but not nearly as strongly as it did between 1998 and 2001, according to the Federal Reserve’s triennial Survey of Consumer Finances released Thursday.
The big reason: while household assets increased, thanks largely to increased home ownership and higher housing prices, debts – especially home debt — rose considerably more.
Another reason: A decline in wages – the median fell 6.2 percent. Investment income also fell.
Despite lower interest rates between 2001 and 2004, families spent more of their incomes paying off their debt.
Median net worth between 2001 and 2004 rose 1.5 percent, meaning half of all households saw a larger increase. The mean average of all households’ net worth rose 6.3 percent.
By contrast, between 1998 and 2001, the median net worth increased 10.3 percent, while the mean rose 28.7 percent.
Read full text: http://money.cnn.com/2006/02/23/pf/consumer_fedsurvey/index.htm