Posted on 10/25/2022 6:52:20 AM PDT by EBH
With persistent inflation eroding wage gains, the number of Americans living paycheck to paycheck is near a historic high, according to a recent report.
Almost half of those earning more than $100,000 say they are just getting by.
As rising prices continue to outpace wage gains, families are finding less cushion in their monthly budget.
As of September, 63% of Americans were living paycheck to paycheck, according to a recent LendingClub report — near the 64% historic high hit in March. A year ago, the number of adults who felt strained was closer to 57%.
"Consumers are not able to keep up with the pace that inflation is increasing," said Anuj Nayar, LendingClub's financial health officer.
"Being employed is no longer enough for the everyday American," Nayar said. "Wage growth has been inadequate, leaving more consumers than ever with little to nothing left over after managing monthly expenses."
Inflation has steadily caused real wages to decline.
The consumer price index, which measures the average change in prices for consumer goods and services, was up 8.2% year over year in the latest reading, still hovering near the highest levels since the early 1980s.
Real average hourly earnings fell 0.1% for the month and are down 3% from a year ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
A separate report by Salary Finance found that two-thirds of working adults said they are worse off financially than they were a year ago.
Even high-income earners are stretched too thin, LendingClub said. Of those earning more than six figures, 49% reported living paycheck to paycheck, a jump from the previous year's 38%.
As a result, many Americans have dipped into their cash reserves or gone into debt.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
That’s right. If you exclude the necessities of daily living the 8.2% may be “correct”.
Whatever the government tells us is what they want us to know (and believe).
That’s a pretty good estimation for the NYC metro area. You also need to knock off 4%-8% for 401k contributions, since social security isn’t going to be around for most of us, and we need to save a LOT to have any hope of retiring before we drop dead. Of course, 8%+ inflation, and the democommies tanking the stock market, doesn’t help either.
You are correct.
Our household income was well into the six figure arena and we were living paycheck to paycheck. Then we had a sick and tired of being sick and tired moment. That was 5 years ago.
On basically the same six figure income we are now not living paycheck to paycheck, far from it. While we hate where the economy is going and we hate inflation we now have our needs met and we are saving something for that on the upcoming rainy day.
I will say to anyone that asks how we did it, simple. Start to live within your means, pay off your debt, learn to tell the difference between needs from wants and only buy needs.
It i a long difficult journey and we are exhausted. But the evenings sleep is so sweet!
Thank a democrat.
I would say the minimum should be 10% including the company match. So if your company matches the first 4% (as my company does), you should invest 6% of your own salary to get to the 10%. Even if you think you are already set for retirement, you still want to contribute enough to get that company match as it is free money you don't want sitting on the table.
That said, nobody ever complained about having TOO MUCH money for retirement, so save as much as you comfortably can. Even if Social Security is still around, it's a buffer, not a means of retirement.
Actually, I bet in reality the number is a chunk higher than 63%.
Yep, you can’t live on 100k in San Francisco if you own a house.
Normally, you would see a headline like that ONLY under a Republican administration. This must mean that biden is a complete failure even for devout democrats.
This year alone I’ve had to buy a (used) vehicle, a clothes washer, a dishwasher, and repair my HVAC. Now, I have to replace the ceramic ignitor on my oven.
I’m slowly being bled dry.
Whether one is making $100,000 a year or $20,000, within those categories, some are doing better than others — and always will. All things being equal, some do better with the resources everybody has (in their universe), while others will fritter away every advantage they have. That is life — and no amount of legislation and coercion is going to change that because it is about the individual choices each makes — and over a lifetime, adds up and compounds.
That is the understanding of life and reality absent from most media reports — and thus is virtually worthless information. What the inquiring and successful mind wants to know is how a person manages to be successful with whatever the circumstances they are given — and not as in Bidenville where there is unlimited money to give to the least successful and misguided.
Absolutely. It would be crazy not to get all you can out of a company match, if it is available to you.
"Even if Social Security is still around, it's a buffer, not a means of retirement."
Yes, it should be a supplement, not your entire retirement plan (if it is, you're in trouble!). But I think for a lot of people, Social Security does represent a significant portion of their planned retirement income. So, not having that, or having it being greatly devalued by inflation, just adds to the challenges many people will face.
The only debt I have is the house and about $1500 on a used car I bought 2.5 years ago.
I have zero credit card debt, nothing else.
I’ve had to buy a new dishwasher, clothes washer, fix my A/C, buy a used car (cash), and now I’ve got to fix my oven.
People could cut back spending, or preferably government could cut back spending and thus reduce taxes significantly. Our governments are awash in money, they need to cut taxes by half and then they would be forced to prioritize their spending. Again, another problem that is government, a big government that needs to be rightsized.
I have absolutely NO DEBT I paid off my house, credit cards, car if I can’t pay cash for something I don’t get it!! I have enough cash for emergencies AC, car needing service ect. First time in my life I have been debt free it is exhilarating!!
$100,000 in Ca. is nothing!!!
The gov’t answer is to raise taxes and inflation.
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