Just providing nominal values and comparing them to values decades ago is so basic BS marketing strategy. Any investor who wants to figure out risk levels must put it all into context. Usually it means ratios.

Just few examples of putting things into context:

* Household Debt Service Payments as a Percent of Disposable Personal Income https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/TDSP

* Household Financial Obligations as a percent of Disposable Personal Income (FODSP) https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FODSP

* Household Debt to GDP for United States© (HDTGPDUSQ163N) https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/HDTGPDUSQ163N