$RIVER The recent data released by the central bank made me laugh.

Among 1.15 billion adults in the country, 73% are in debt. More surprisingly, 650 million people are simultaneously owing on mortgages and car loans, accounting for 74%. The debt is mainly concentrated in three areas: 482 million people with mortgages (57%), 375 million with credit cards, and 187 million with car loans.

In terms of age groups, those aged 20 to 40 have a debt rate as high as 85%, and those aged 40 to 55 still have 73%, only after 55 can they breathe a sigh of relief. To some extent, reaching 55 years old is indeed a form of liberation.

Credit cards are the most chaotic—default rate around 3%, with an average debt of 50,000 yuan per person, and approximately 30 million overdue cards in 2024.

But here’s a particularly counterintuitive phenomenon: people with a bachelor’s degree or higher have a debt probability as high as 85%, while those with high school education or below only have 42%. The more educated, the more likely to be in debt—this gap is truly magical.

The conclusion is: read less, live until 55, and you can basically be debt-free and carefree. Of course, this is a joke, but the reality is indeed a bit outrageous.