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 ...
And then you’ll get to call and do the debt-free scream :)
Ah yes, like they say in my business, the magic of compounding. [It’s true, BTW].
I was thrown into the whole serious saving angle as I became a Conservative and distrust of government ... it happened early. And, hearing that, unlike previous generations of my family who lived o pensions in old age, that I was going to have to take care of myself .... and to take it seriously.
That’s how I began. Since about 19 years old I have saved. If I got a tax refund or a bonus at work, I didn’t even look at it, it went right into the bank.
Then I got in my field which only verified what I knew.
I am better off than most of my friends and many of my co-workers. You just have to do it. :0)
I have to agree. People are just nuts about technology. I have a phone that my sister gave me because she could put me on her family plan for $10 a month. My landlady lets me tap into her internet. I don't have television at all, or smart phone, or any of that. That's a big area of savings.
You're right about eating out and Starbucks too. I used to do all that, then I quit. Suddenly, I had money! LOL
I'm really getting into this saving thing, now that it would be very nice to live totally of my rather modest pension. It's actually more fun than spending money unnecessarily!
An amazing number of my middle-school students have iPhones and iPads and electronics of all sorts that they play with in school. The whole school is considered Title One (meaning low-income, reduced lunch, etc) but the kids seem pretty well provided for in terms of games and tech toys.
I’m with you, Sam. I’m continually AMAZED at some of the younger set that work for me. I pay them above minimum, but these are certainly NOT ‘career’ jobs. Just jobs.
And yet, they have cash for $100 hair cuts/colors, tattoos, piercings (where they don’t show!) bring in Starbucks coffee & pastries every morning, versus a mug from home and a BORING bagel, nails done, smartphones, cable TV, long weekends at the indoor water parks for their illegitimate offspring, etc.
I make (EARN!) 4x what some of them are making, and I live well below THEIR means, LOL!
But - nobody listens to me. ;)
AMEN! As a triage interviewer at a local food/clothing/etc bank, I talk to these people all day long. Most of them are VERY unmotivated.
There are savings accounts out there that pay 1%+ I have my emergency savings in one of these.
most of these come on lawsuits are frivolous but this one is not...
SS disability or any disability for that matter garners you a big payoff....
there are people all set for life here on FR...the govt workers/retirees including military retirees/ those that have inherited a good amt of money, and those who were simply lucky in choosing work that didn't end in bankruptcy....
the world is far different...its worse for the younger people....
after we get over a current crunch, we are really going to try to NOT pay so much in income taxes....its just maddening that you work so much and have to pay so much...
It's like the mesothelioma settlement stuff in terms of the lawyers going after any straw they can bend for a case. In the meso case, "if you or someone you loved....worked in ships, on ships, in factories, HVAC, plumbing et al decades ago you may have a case and can get what you deserve.
Of course, all these case topics are serious. It's how these lawyers troll for clients and the people who use them in most of the cases. The trolling for different medicine suits is even worse. They, and the FDA, are the reason why prescription medicine costs so much, IMO.
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