Posted on 03/30/2015 10:32:15 AM PDT by ilovesarah2012
Brother, can you spare a nickel? For roughly half of American households they answer is "barely," according to the results of a new survey by Bankrate.com. About half reported they are setting aside no more than 5 percent of their income in savings. One in five said they're not even able to save a penny.
The highest savings rates were reported by those in the middle of the income ladder; more than a third of households earnings between $50,000 - 75,000 said they're saving more than 10 percent of their incomes, a higher rate than those in the highest-income bracket. Only a quarter of those surveyed are setting aside more than 10 percent of their incomes, including one in seven who said they are saving more than 15 percent of what they make.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
It is pretty difficult to save any money, but we don’t. Doesn’t help that bank savings account last year (not much, kind of “emergency fund”) paid a whopping 1 tenth of 1 percent in interest for the year.
It is pretty difficult to save any money, but we do save some. Doesn’t help that bank savings account last year (not much, kind of “emergency fund”) paid a whopping 1 tenth of 1 percent in interest for the year.
And exactly why should they? 92 million work-able adults in this country not working - don't seem like they will ever work again, nor want to work. 47 million households on SNAP, untold millions on Section 8, TANF, WICS, and the dozens of other entitlement/giveaway programs. Half the people in this country don't even pay Federal Income taxes (and FICA payments are NOT taxes, BTW). Why in the hell SHOULD they work?
Stay home. Watch Jerry and Maury and write them damn numbers down from all the lawyers saying they're gonna help you sue for that vaginal mesh thing, or that apartment complex that didn't protect you when you were out drunk on the stoop at 3AM Sattidy night, or git your SSDI cuz you got depression or carpal or fear of work.... It goes on all day long, all night long....they got the time.
Why should they? People used to be ashamed of stealing from others. Now it's a "shout out" to all their peeps.
I have little sympathy for most of these cases. “The Ant and the Grasshopper” were routinely shown to us and read to us when I was in grade school, and this is that story played out.
Show me a family who says they can’t afford to save, and I’ll show you a family rife with wasteful spending.
——Why should they? -——
why, for the joy of working, of being alive
My wife was flipping the channels, and these scum lawyer ads are just outrageous.
We have come to the conclusion there are only five "growth" areas of the Obama Economy:
- Social Security Disability scammers
- Welfare, EBT, Section 8, TANF, etc scammers
- Trillions spent on medial insurance (20% of our entire economy), and going up due to illegals and deadbeats abusing the system, and lawyers making everything more expensive
- Vegas style "Investors" who are nothing but gamblers benefitting from 4 Trillion in QE Fed sham money
- Personal Injury lawyers
Save what?!! I make less now per year than I did 10 years ago, and I have way more job responsibilities than I did then.
It’s still an employers market, and the goal is to drive the pay scale down to the lowest level possible, to the point where it pays better to collect welfare than it does to work.
The middle class is shrinking for a reason, and the reason is because the middle class cannot compete against third world labor, period.
And the free traitor “sell your country and soul for a buck” crowd here on FR will be along shortly to shout me down, and call me a liberal communist for daring to put the interests of my fellow Americans above their quarterly profits.
The operative phrase for far too many in this country is “not working” - it’s called getting over (at least back in my day). It used to be called “getting a check” but that has been supplanted by “my EBT gets charged up.”
Shopping malls are jammed on the weekends. Just try getting a table at a Texas Roadhouse, Olive Garden or Chilis on a Friday or Saturday night. You will often find the wait an hour or more.
Big screen TVs, smartphones, tablets and other gadgets are flying off the shelves. Premium supermarkets like Whole Foods and Trader Joes are jowl-to-jowl with people. Upscale fast food and coffee outlets like Chipotle, Panera Bread and Starbucks are doing heavy, heavy volume.
Take a look at the size of the average home and the luxuriousness of the average automobile. With cars especially, options that were considered a luxury10 years ago are considered bare-bones today (what, no heated seats and no 9-speaker audio system?).
We are a culture of consumption where going out to eat is the norm and eating at home is a rarity. With regard to home entertainment and electronic gadgets, we deny ourselves nothing.
Not that there's anything wrong with living well, but if you aren't putting aside at least 10-15% of your income, well there are plenty of ways to cut back so that you can do so.
Now, add up smart phones, regular phones, computer, cable or satellite TV, special services like Netflix etc etc.
I wonder how many families could save if they cut back to just a minimal cell phone plan, antenna TV, and the cheapest computer service possible, perhaps even use the local library computers. That savings in the bank each month would add up quickly.
Another nice place to save is NO beverages bought outside the house and no designer power drinks (etc). And none of those expensive individual serving coffees. Water is still free in a restaurant. A thermos keeps coffee warm. Making ones own healthy smoothie in the blender works just fine. etc
United States Personal Savings Rate 1959-2015 | Data | Chart | Calendar
Personal Savings in the United States increased to 5.50 percent in January of 2015 from 5 percent in December of 2014. Personal Savings in the United States averaged 6.80 percent from 1959 until 2015, reaching an all time high of 14.60 percent in May of 1975 and a record low of 0.80 percent in April of 2005. Personal Savings in the United States is reported by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/personal-savings
I’m thinking that the vast majority of those who can’t even save a penny also, on a regular basis, don’t deny themselves many of life’s pleasures. Movies, junk food, electronics, trendy clothes, often nice vehicles, etc... While my family goes without many of these things on a regular basis to save for rainy days. (I am not a recipient of the myriad of social service programs available to many of these non-savers.)
You got them! Exactly. If you see a lawyer on TV, think John Edwards.
rife with wasteful spending
And the issue I have with that is that too many families don’t prioritize. They think certain luxuries are necessities.
We are a nation of excesses. And kids are usually not taught how to save or encouraged to. It’s just spend, spend, spend.
I will confess that I have spent money I should have saved. I will confess that I have made even more mistakes of every kind beyond that in my lifetime, many of which have impacted my financial situation in ways I would not have thought would do so at the time I made them. But that does not mean I have spent extravagantly, nor refused to work. I work seven days a week.
I saved earlier in life, to build a down payment for a house. Since then I haven’t saved a cent, though I have tried. It’s difficult to do so when you don’t get a paycheck you can plan on every two weeks. Now, approaching retirement age, I am really tying to turn that around. It is not easy. The collapse of 2008 left me taking a job out of desperation that does not pay enough to pay my bills. A bad investment in a business in 2006 that did not pan out sucked equity out of my house and left my monthly mortgage higher than it should be for the household income we have now.
I am getting work again in my field and things are looking up, but it’s very difficult to remain optimistic under such circumstances but I celebrate every tiny victory, and look at the debts I’ve paid off or continue to pay down. Attitudes such as yours, and the whispers of friends and family members, don’t help.
I don’t ask for sympathy nor advice. I just hope people realize that the world has changed and many things our parents could count are no longer there. Not everyone who has no savings is a bum.
;)
Yes, that is correct. I wish some substantial stories would come out along this line. Expose the excessive spending that most of these non-savers do. Expose the typical person who relies on government handouts while spending their money on expensive stuff.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.