But remember, wealthy people make money on your debt. Collecting interest as long as the economy is good enough for people to pay the interest they owe, is a great way for people to make money with little effort.

Being a landlord requires repairing and maintaining house. Being a creditor requires writing a good credit agreement, sending notices and collecting -- as long as the debtor remains solvent.

Too much debt is bad for an economy for many, many reasons.

If people don't borrow in the wage and work structure we now have, the economy will slow down.

But what happens when many people can't repay their debts?

An economy built on debt but also offering only low wages that make repaying the debt or making payments on the debt very difficult and in some crises impossible will fail eventually. It's just a matter of time.

Wages have to be in balance with debt and investment or the entire economic edifice will crumble.

That's my opinion for what it is worth. I am not an economist and welcome comments about this.

I think people are maxing out again. Around here they drive super expensive cars, for example. I bet they are strapped to monthly payments for them, and not cheap. And housing prices are soaring. It feels like the SOS again. And then the recent posting about who can afford an emergency $400 or $1000. Maxed out with many jobs that pay sh** these days.

so people often have smaller down payments as a percentage of the total mortgage because that's all we can afford.

But this can also be a sign that more people are buying homes, which is a good indicator of an improving economy. There are benefits to home ownership if they have a low fixed rate.