Social This can't be right (Americans saving habits)

[TeTe]

Notice they didn't ask about retirement accounts. I can see keeping minimal amounts in savings and checking accounts and keeping it in tax deferred accounts or Roth or CDs, but I don't think they're taking this into account. Do you believe that only a quarter of Americans have over $2k in the bank... Not including retirement accounts?

How much do you guys keep in actual emergency fund aka not invested?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/much-money-americans-bank-accounts-120105182.html

Most Americans Have Insufficient Savings
Experts recommend having three to six months’ worth of living expenses saved as an emergency fund, but most Americans are falling far short of this goal. While a quarter of Americans (25%) have $2,000 or more in a savings account, most have far less — 19% have no savings, 21% have between $1 and $250, and 11% have between $250 and $500.

Older Gen Zers and young millennials (ages 25 to 34) are the most likely to have no savings, with 23% of this age group reporting that they have nothing saved. Baby boomers ages 65+ are the most likely to have sufficient savings, with 42% having over $2,000 in a savings account.

 

[IndyCovaHart]

I oversave.

It’s crazy how much I’ve lost by hoarding for a monsoon

 

[Jack Reacheround]

Do you believe that only a quarter of Americans have over $2k in the bank... Not including retirement accounts?

Yes. Absolutely. I think you may be underestimating how skewed wealth distribution has become. Honestly, I’m surprised it’s even 25%.

 

[Bornstarch]

It doens't matter how much money they make. Money comes in, money comes out.

The reason why cars are so expensive, even used ones is because people are willing to pay for them, even though they can't afford them. Everyone wants to drive a newer vehicle.

 

[TeTe]

Yes. Absolutely. I think you may be underestimating how skewed wealth distribution has become. Honestly, I’m surprised it’s even 25%.

I can't help but to attribute a lot of it to poor money management. I mean, I do have a couple friends that make good money, yet live off of debt year after year. They seem to get caught up a bit but keep making stupid financial decisions and start the cycle over.

 

[TeTe]

It doens't matter how much money they make. Money comes in, money comes out.

The reason why cars are so expensive, even used ones is because people are willing to pay for them, even though they can't afford them. Everyone wants to drive a newer vehicle.

Or buy a massive house they don't need. Bigger is better in this country apparently.

 

[Renard]

I have a relative that inherited hundreds of thousands in assets, more or less half a mil, and now doesn't have a single dollar to their name. No one could talk sense into them. That's the power of stupid and emotional reasoning. There are people out there that literally can't hold onto a single dollar, everything they touch they lose. Others just made poor decisions early in life and now are stuck in the working class, kids to feed, etc, with zero disposable income. The rest are somewhere in the middle, with debt to pay but making discretionary purchases that really could have waited.

 

[TeTe]

I have a relative that inherited hundreds of thousands in assets, more or less half a mil, and now doesn't have a single dollar to their name. No one could talk sense into them. That's the power of stupid and emotional reasoning. There are people out there that literally can't hold onto a single dollar, everything they touch they lose. Others just made poor decisions early in life and now are stuck in the working class, kids to feed, etc, with zero disposable income. The rest are somewhere in the middle, with debt to pay but making discretionary purchases that really could have waited.

My mother has been pretty useless her whole life, rarely working and having no money. My grandparents willed her around $150k after they died ...and she pissed it away in just over a year on drugs and her "friends" drugs.

 

[Jack Reacheround]

I can't help but to attribute a lot of it to poor money management.

It isn’t that. It’s that over the past 40 - 45 years the ultra-wealthy have successfully engaged in a massive transfer of wealth from the lower and middle classes to the upper class. That combined with neo-liberalism, stagnating wages (while production kept increasing, and waning unionization of workers, has really hurt everyone’s ability to make the money necessary to both provide for their families, and save.

 

[TheTickG]

Notice they didn't ask about retirement accounts. I can see keeping minimal amounts in savings and checking accounts and keeping it in tax deferred accounts or Roth or CDs, but I don't think they're taking this into account. Do you believe that only a quarter of Americans have over $2k in the bank... Not including retirement accounts?

How much do you guys keep in actual emergency fund aka not invested?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/much-money-americans-bank-accounts-120105182.html

Most Americans Have Insufficient Savings
Experts recommend having three to six months’ worth of living expenses saved as an emergency fund, but most Americans are falling far short of this goal. While a quarter of Americans (25%) have $2,000 or more in a savings account, most have far less — 19% have no savings, 21% have between $1 and $250, and 11% have between $250 and $500.

Older Gen Zers and young millennials (ages 25 to 34) are the most likely to have no savings, with 23% of this age group reporting that they have nothing saved. Baby boomers ages 65+ are the most likely to have sufficient savings, with 42% having over $2,000 in a savings account.

This just in, the news lies. More on this story at 11.

 

[Bornstarch]

It isn’t that. It’s that over the past 40 - 45 years the ultra-wealthy have successfully engaged in a massive transfer of wealth from the lower and middle classes to the upper class. That combined with neo-liberalism, stagnating wages (while production kept increasing, and waning unionization of workers, has really hurt everyone’s ability to make the money necessary to both provide for their families, and save.

We got people from China coming here in shipping containers that are thriving by the 2nd generation.

 

[Legumes]

I have no savings because:

- 6 drinks a day from Starbucks
- 3+ meals per day via door dash
- rent
- new car
- latest phone
- all the trendy shit that I buy that influencers are peddling at the moment
-16 streaming services
-donating money to people on twitch and youtube
-onlyfans subscriptions
-high interest credit cards
- scratch off tickets
- booze

All that on an entry level salary/job.

 

[BJ@LW&WW]

you can directly view census data.

Wealth, Asset Ownership, & Debt of Households Detailed Tables: 2022

Source: 2023 Survey of Income and Program Participation.

www.census.gov

1/9 households have a net worth of zero or less.
1/15 have a net worth between 1-4999$.

Together, they make up more than 1/6 of all house holds.

there are also data specifics about assets in checking accounts, interest earning accounts, invesstments, retirementa accounts, etc.


These numbers might be shocking to you because quite simply, you likely have very limited interaction with the extremely impoverished if you know what a roth ira is.

 

[TeTe]

you can directly view census data.

Wealth, Asset Ownership, & Debt of Households Detailed Tables: 2022

Source: 2023 Survey of Income and Program Participation.

www.census.gov

1/9 households have a net worth of zero or less.
1/15 have a net worth between 1-4999$.

Together, they make up more than 1/6 of all house holds.

there are also data specifics about assets in checking accounts, interest earning accounts, invesstments, retirementa accounts, etc.


These numbers might be shocking to you because quite simply, you likely have very limited interaction with the extremely impoverished if you know what a roth ira is.

I guess you could say I'm far removed from it, getting sober at 23 and turning my life around as opposed to all of the drug addicts I grew up around and not having a father around. Fortunately I had my grandparents who didn't make very much but saved a lot and made smart financial decisions. I'm grateful for the work ethic they instilled in me even though I did my best to fuck up my life through my early 20s.

 

[Meatspin]

Honestly I’m not surprised, seems the majority of people are idiots when it comes to personal finance. It would suck to be that vulnerable.

 

[Bornstarch]

Live within your means. Follow this rule and you will be a millionaire.

 

[Contempt]

Notice they didn't ask about retirement accounts. I can see keeping minimal amounts in savings and checking accounts and keeping it in tax deferred accounts or Roth or CDs, but I don't think they're taking this into account. Do you believe that only a quarter of Americans have over $2k in the bank... Not including retirement accounts?

How much do you guys keep in actual emergency fund aka not invested?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/much-money-americans-bank-accounts-120105182.html

Most Americans Have Insufficient Savings
Experts recommend having three to six months’ worth of living expenses saved as an emergency fund, but most Americans are falling far short of this goal. While a quarter of Americans (25%) have $2,000 or more in a savings account, most have far less — 19% have no savings, 21% have between $1 and $250, and 11% have between $250 and $500.

Older Gen Zers and young millennials (ages 25 to 34) are the most likely to have no savings, with 23% of this age group reporting that they have nothing saved. Baby boomers ages 65+ are the most likely to have sufficient savings, with 42% having over $2,000 in a savings account.

Jesus... you guys desperately need a superannuation scheme like Australia.

"Baby boomers ages 65+ are the most likely to have sufficient savings, with 42% having over $2,000 in a savings account."

That's the most terrifying bit. Those guys are screwed.

 

[Jack Reacheround]

We got people from China coming here in shipping containers that are thriving by the 2nd generation.

That’s like saying, “some people are successful, therefore most must be.”

The data is clear. A massive wealth transfer has taken place over the past 40 years. That wealth has gone from many people in the middle class to fewer people in the upper class. I think that probably has more to do with how much the average American saves than the alternative which is just “Americans save less because many of them, not for the reasons of skewed wealth distribution, each individually failed at financial planning, and there is no systemic change that could possibly have caused that.”

 

[Contempt]

Or buy a massive house they don't need. Bigger is better in this country apparently.

...I feel attacked

 

[Bornstarch]

That’s like saying, “some people are successful, therefore most must be.”

The data is clear. A massive wealth transfer has taken place over the past 40 years. That wealth has gone from many people in the middle class to fewer people in the upper class. I think that probably has more to do with how much the average American saves than the alternative which is just “Americans save less because many of them, not for the reasons of skewed wealth distribution, each individually failed at financial planning, and there is no systemic change that could possibly have caused that.”

You can be successful in America easier than any other country in the world