[EVO X]

It is something of a myth, though, that Americans "don't save." Most Americans have medical covered through "forced savings" at work; they have retirement handled through "forced pensions" and Social Security---rightly or wrongly, they contribute money that they might not otherwise, and that IS a form of savings; and homes are usually a reason people save---but if mortgage interest deductions makes it logical to purchase homes on time, the incentive to save for that is gone.

Your talking about basic life support at retirement. Everything I've been reading comes to a different conclusion. The average credit card in the US has a balance of $8K. Well over 50% of workers cash out their 401K's when switching jobs. I've been reading that some lenders are putting people into too much home for their overall earnings. Low interest rates won't help if a job loss occurs.

[LS]

I think you are right, but still, that doesn't make Americans any worse off than anyone else at retirement. Perhaps we expect more, as we should. My point is that if you assess all the numbers, it is a fallacy that we don't "save."