Posted on 02/10/2024 7:03:50 AM PST by Phoenix8
Nearly half of Americans have $500 or less in their savings accounts, an amount that leaves them vulnerable to unexpected expenses, according to a GOBankingRates survey of 1,063 U.S. adults conducted in November 2023.
About 29% of respondents have between $501 and $5,000 in their savings accounts, while the remaining 21% of Americans have $5,001 or more.
Few hold much cash in their checking accounts as well. Of those surveyed, 60% report having $500 or less in their checking accounts, while only about 12% have $2,001 or more.
The lack of cash in either savings or checking accounts suggests that many Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. This leaves them vulnerable to unexpected expenses, underscoring the importance of having an emergency fund, if they’re able to build one.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
I do not agree with your analysis—primarily because it fails to take into account the cost of nursing home care or other very expensive end of life care.
A large chunk of those costs are paid for by Medicaid, some by Medicare and of course by private insurance and private funds.
In the case of my mother it was dark humor—she was a tough old bird. They called it “hospice care” for the first six months and she refused to die—so they no longer called it hospice care. Then a year after that they decided she really was going to die—again, lol—and reinstated “hospice care”. She almost made the full six months the second time.
That is “health care” in my book.
End of life care may be expensive but chronic disease coverage is close to 90 percent of a 4 trillion dollar national health care budget. Nursing care, especially Medicaid, is nowhere close.
I had a summer job back in the late 70s in the collection department of a bank. There were many people considered to be prominent in the rolodex. If they were a month past due I would make call. After that, the calls were elevated to the supervisor.
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