Personal Finance and Family Finance ideas and articles from an LDS perspective.

Idaho's Score

Are you and your family financially secure?  If you live in Idaho, chances are you may not be, according to a study recently released by the Corporation for Enterprise Development.  However, I would like to point out that Idaho (my home state) performed better than Utah (where I’m now living). Idaho received a ‘D’ for financial security on the non-profit’s report.  Here are a few things I learned from the report:

Idahoans Aren’t Worth Much (Financially speaking).
Idaho ranks 31 out of 50 states measured for Average Net Worth (money and assets you have minus your debt).  That’s an average of $66,630 to the national average of 88,803. (About $14,000 more than Utah - why did I move to Utah??)

Idahoans Aren’t Prepared for Emergencies.
Idaho ranks 3rd out of 50 states measured for Asset Poverty Rate! Only 15.4% of households in Idaho (compared to 22.5% nation wide) don’t have enough money to survive at the poverty level for three months if they lose employment. (Translated: Idahoans seem to do a good job at saving money and keeping debt down).

Idahoans Result to Bankruptcy too Often.
Idaho ranks 33 out of 50 states measured for Consumer Bankruptcies. 2.5 people per 1,000 people in 2007 filed for bankruptcy. This is just slightly better than the 2.71 national average - but worse than Utah. (Translation: We can’t meet our contracts to pay our debts!)

Idahoans Have a Lot of Credit Card Debt.
Idaho ranks 39 out of 50 states measured for Median Credit Card Debt.  The average individual in Utah has $3,146 in credit card debt, in comparison to the $2,960 national average.  That’s a bit more than both Utah and the national average.

Are you living financially secure?  Are you living from paycheck to paycheck?

Are you heeding the prophet’s counsel?