One Million Compared to One Billion and One Trillion

 I heard someone say the other day, "I think they were saying 3 billion dollars...or maybe it was 3 trillion?"

Let's try and get our heads around what the difference is because the US Government throws around the terms MILLIONS, BILLIONS and TRILLIONS like they are all interchangeable and they all represent a "whole lot of money!"  But there is a HUGE difference.

So, I think we can all get our heads around a paper $100 bill.  Most of us have held one and all of my readers are going to realize what it takes to earn $100.

And here's how it goes;

$1 million =  $100 bills stacked is 43 inches or 3.6 feet

$1 billion = $100 bills stacked is 3600 feet or about 3 Empire State Buildings tall

$1 trillion = $100 bills stacked 3,600,000 feet or about 682 MILES!!! 

Now understand the the USA has about 30 trillion in debt and you begin to understand that our financial system is very much in limbo.  That's a stack of $100 bills that almost goes around the entire world!!

And finally consider that the USA has unfunded liabilities over the next 30 years that could be as much as $100 trillion when you consider Medicare, VA and Social Security.

So...it's starting to be simply unimaginable for the average brain.