Welcome to the Eric Erickson Show podcast, Hour One.

Hello, America. Welcome. It is Eric Erickson here across the nation. The phone number 8779773-745, two days away from the gathering in Atlanta.

Look forward to seeing so many of you there. I want to begin finally. I've thought about it enough.

I can comment on this, I think.

I put some thought into everything before I want to say anything.

Let me read you a headline.

This is from Redfin.

First time buyers need to earn 13% more than a year ago to afford the typical American starter home.

Philip put this data together. It's in the show notes. If you text data to 33777, you can get it.

47% of credit card holders currently carry debt from month to month up from 39% in December of 2021.

60% of Americans have credit card debt and they've carried it for more than a year with an average monthly interest rate now of 22.59%.

A thousand six hundred dollars is the average monthly mortgage payment for a starter home in the U.S. following a 13% increase from last year.

$402,600 is the median home price after the U.S. housing market saw a record price increase last month.

50% fewer affordable houses are on the market today than in 2012.

23% is more is what you'll pay for the grocery store compared to pre-COVID prices.

$709 more per month is what the average household will pay for standard goods and services compared to two years ago.

37% is the number of Americans who feel very confident about reaching their retirement goals.

That's down from 53% in 2021.

So post-COVID, 2021, 53% of Americans thought they'd reach their retirement goals.

It is now two years later in 202323, 37%. That's binaics.

Into this mix comes this song on the right, Richmond, north of Richmond. I've got to tell you,

the title of the song alone is priceless.

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