The federal government is likely to reach its statutory debt limit some time in January 2013. Here are the five things you need to know about the U.S. national debt:

1. What Is The Difference Between The Federal Budget Deficit And The National Debt? The two terms are often confused. Here is USA Today’s explanation of the difference: “The deficit generally refers to the annual amount the United States goes over-budget … The debt refers to the total amount of money the U.S. owes other countries …” In other words, the debt is the running tab. The deficit is what we add each year to that tab.
2. What Is Our National Debt Today – And Where Does It Stand In Relation To Certain Moments In The Past.? Today the debt is nearly $16.16 trillion  - $500 billion more than the size of the U.S. economy or about $51,000 for every American. Here’s where the debt stood at the end of the fiscal year (Sept. 30 of each year) in other post-war election years (figures are in nominal dollars, which means they were not adjusted for inflation):
• 2008: $10.02 trillion
• 2004: $7.38 trillion
• 2000: $5.67 trillion
• 1996: $5.22 trillion
• 1992: $4.06 trillion
• 1988: $2.60 trillion
• 1984: $1.57 trillion
• 1980: $907.7 billion
• 1976: $620.4 billion
• 1972: $427.3 billion
• 1968: $347.6 billion
• 1964: $311.7 billion
• 1960: $286.3 billion
• 1956: $272.8 billion
• 1952: $259.1 billion
• 1948: $252.3 billion
3. Who Owns Federal Debt? The Federal Reserve and the government itself own most of the debt, about $6.4 trillion as of March 2012. Foreign governments own about $5.1 trillion. What does it mean to own U.S. debt? Yahoo Finance explains, “As the U.S. government spends an unprecedented amount of money to fix the economy, there is an equally great need to raise the cash to pay for it. This is accomplished through borrowing, whereby Uncle Sam sells Treasury securities of varying maturity. For investors, government bills, notes and bonds are considered safe because they have a guaranteed rate of return, based on faith in future U.S. tax revenues. The government has been partially funding operations via Treasury securities for decades.”
4. Americans Pay Interest On Their Personal Debts – Does The Federal Government? Yes, definitely. And as the debt grows, these payments grow and take up more of the federal budget. In fiscal year 2012, the federal government paid $359.8 billion in interest payments. That figure was actually lower than in fiscal year 2011, but only because of an accounting change that lopped $75 billion off the payment for July 2011. Without that change, interest payments would have been close to what they were the previous year. According to the Office of Management and Budget (table 8.4), in fiscal year 2012 it’s estimated interest payments will consumer 1.4 percent of our total economy. That number will double to 2.8 percent in the next five years.
5. Now About That Debt Ceiling … It may not seem like it, but there is a legal limit to what the federal government can borrow. The problem is lawmakers keep raising that limit. Before last summer’s epic debate that eventually led to another raise in the ceiling, Congress had raised the federal government’s borrowing limit 10 times. Imagine what would happen if you just dealt with your personal overspending by asking your credit card company for an increase every time you hit your limit. Instead of cutting back, you’d might just spend more. That’s exactly what’s happening to our federal government.