During the next Obama term, those with $500 in savings will be the “new rich.”
40% have less than $500 in savings? I find that very hard to believe, just like the 1 in 5 people going hungry statistic.
Idiots.
My checking account alone has a $1,000 buffer in it. I have another $10,000 in a savings account for emergencies, like failing appliances.
It wasn't hard to build up that kind of cushion. I just spent less than I took home in my paycheck, for my entire working career.
This poll is non-cents.
But they have at least that much in “balance available” on their credit cards. Isn’t that the same thing?
Next question should be...how many Mocha Grande Frappichinos did they buy last year?
This is a number that I actually can believe. While many people truly do live paycheck to paycheck, the freeloader segment is so permanently irresponsible, that if they found $500 on their doorstep, it would never occur to them to set it aside for a rainy day. Their perception is that they “need” and “deserve” to have the latest cell phone, a bigger flat screen television, new rims for the about to be reposessed car in their driveway, or just a damn good partying night out since waiting on the next handout is damn stressful!
Why worry about savings?
SNAP, Welfare, Medicaid, Cell Phones all keep coming. And Ben Bernanke keeps printing the money for that. No worries!
It is not how much money you make that is important, it is how much you spend. It is always a good idea to spend less then you bring home.
This is why some lottery winners, as well as major sports stars allow millions to slip through their fingers ending up broke.
A series of devastating medical bills for my daughter's premature birth wiped out our savings years ago and left us with a mountain of debt.
Toss in another miscarriage, another high-risk pregnancy, a battle with cancer, two knee surgeries for my husband, and then a year of having to replace every appliance in the house (at least they had the courtesy to fail in order, one a month - including a $10K HVAC in the dead of winter), yeah...the SHTF over here.
What we didn't do: shirk our duty, not pay our bills 100%, look for handouts, go on government plans, or make excuses.
What we did do: give to our church, donate to charity, buy consignment, shop at Good Will, not take vacations, build our own furniture/deck/patio, stretch every dollar, live with what we had, cut our own hair, fix our own roof/cars/you name it.
Still have a fantastic credit rating, $180K in retirement accounts, a roof over our head, 3 healthy kids, and two gainfully employed individuals.
So no, not everyone hanging on is an Obama voter. Sometimes when it rains, it POURS. For my family, it's been pouring for a DECADE.
In the erarly 1900’s there wasn’t any financial training either for most folk. I think people in those days were pretty good at saving money.
Doesn’t a retirement account count as savings? It does in my house (although we have non-retirement savings as well).
It would be zero if they had to pay for their Obamaphones.
Why keep savings in an account or CD which earns 1% or less interest and can be tied up by external developments like a bank failure, government seizure natural disaster or hyperinflation, at a time when food and fuel are rising at over a 10% retail rate?
Last month was $100.00 for a hard drive and $300.00 for a septic tank effluent pump.
I'm grateful that we can do most maintenance ourselves, just buying parts is bad enough.
I used to sell the same basic pump for $79.95.
OK, I know we have a lot of good folks that are looking for work, and I’m not talking about them, but this number is meaningly without subtracting out people on EBT/welfare etc.
What need does a person on welfare have for savings? Their rainy day is already covered.
If that’s all I had for an emergency fund I’d freak out. You’d be one car repair away from having to tap credit, a job loss away from bankruptcy.
If some one ask me on the street, if I have any ready money savings, I’d answer no.
$200 tops, and it’s none of their business. Then tell the guy and camera crew to buzz off.
Here’s what I don’t get. Through hard work, discipline and God’s grace, we have considerably more than that in savings, so we are in a better place than 40% of folks. Yet, at least 80% of the cars I pass every day are much newer than mine and my wife’s. Wait, maybe there’s a correlation.