Wages have been stagnate for about 15 years now...Millions lost jobs, cut back, hours reduced, etc....All while most things have double or nearly doubled in price, including fuel, food, taxes, etc., etc...
How were people supposed to save in this economic meat grinder?
I make 4% more now than I did 10 years ago. I’ve even added a Bachelor’s Degree to my resume. Had I decided to not spend 4 years in college, I would have been making at least 19% more. Almost every day I wonder why I wasted the time in college for a piece of paper.
The only hope I have is that by 50, I will be making more than I would have made without a degree. My initial goal was to walk to a Porsche dealer with enough money to buy a Porsche 911 Turbo with cash at 40. Now, I’ll be lucky to buy used at 50.
The upside is that I work in an industry which is acutely tuned to market change and we’re busier than we can handle. Most markets are on the upswing, but it does appear to be more a function of depreciation/worn-out-s417 than an uptick in the economy. People are replacing their worn out stuff because they have to, to survive, rather than replacing it because times are good.
As an aside...
We had a customer who owed a bunch of money to the IRS. A third party stepped up to solve the problem, and we offered to give 90% to the IRS, which would have satisfied their shortfall. It took the IRS 6 weeks to even call us back, at which point the 3rd party had moved on to greener pastures.
The IRS said they’d accept our solution, but when we told them that ship had sailed, they responded by saying that the offer would move to the back of the line, as they only serve requests on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Don't ever live on borrowed money.
I grew up in the depression and I was taught to never borrow money except for a 1st home.
I've lived by that for 77 years including running a business without ever borrowing a cent for anything,
If you haven't got the money you don't need it.
In over 40 years in a construction business averaging 25 employees over the years I can't think of more than 4 that had a pot to piss in because they borrowed money to buy things.