Figures released Monday by the Federal Reserve reinforce the collective economic calamity shared by most Americans over the past few years: The net worth of families has plunged by nearly 40 percent.
Data suggests that the average family's median net worth dropped 39 percent over a three year period, from $126,400 in 2007 to $77,300 in 2010. In the end, Americans are back to where they were, on average, in 1992.
A story in the Washington Post suggests that the economic setbacks have critically impacted workers' retirement plans, with many starting from scratch to reset their savings and investment plans.
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Which will be more difficult as Americans are also making less money, as median income fell about 8 percent to $45,800 in 2010. The average value of stock market-based retirement accounts also fell, dropping 6 percent to $44,000.
Housing values make up a huge portion of the drop in net worth, with the value of Americans' portion of ownership in their own homes falling 42 percent between 2007 and 2010, to just $55,000.
Some positives: Fewer families are carrying huge credit card balances, with the median balance dropping 16 percent to $2,600. And almost a quarter of families carry no debt at all.
Read the full story here.
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