The problem with this country is that we are taught to consume and not save for when times get tough, especially the younger generation, they have no clue what the value of a dollar is anymore. I see kids today with $700 phones, Im sure their parents bought them but in reality kids today get almost anything they want, $150 sneakers, $500 tablets, $50 sushi dinners.... maybe a class in money 101 would be better for this country,...no one teaches you the basics of money, no one tells you how to balance a check book or what a 15% interest rate on a credit card is all about, nope just pass those SATs and go take out a $50,000 college loan at 7%..Schools don't teach kids the basics of what a dollar is or what it is to save, and if the parents have spending habits, the kids will usually follow in their footsteps.....now imagine when the next collapse in the economy comes, what happens to all these 70,000,000+ people who have zero savings, this is very serious, a problem that can put the US into a depression, but then again who cares, its a subject that no one talks about...there are many articles written on it but its a discussion that gets ignored and will continue to get ignored....can it be fixed, not really... maybe patched but never fixed, its just the way consumers are taught, we are taught to spend and since 70% of the GDP is made up of the consumer, well why would they want us to put those dollars away especially now with 0% on your money, whats the point in putting anything away. I mean BUBBLE ben bernanke did a great job of propping up the market for all of the 1% and most of the rich and wealthy but it did nothing for the little guy who puts away $100 a week into his savings. So now that millions of americans have little to no money saved the next collapse in the economy will make the last one look like it never even took place... Millions of Americans have little to no money saved Charisse Jones 1 Hour AgoUSA TodayHalf of American households can barely save a nickel Millions of Americans have no savings set aside for a rainy day, leaving them in serious jeopardy if financial calamity strikes, according to two new studies released this week. Roughly a third of American adults don't have any emergency savings, meaning that over 72 million people have no cushion to fall back on if they lose a job or have to deal with another crisis, according to a survey released today by NeighborWorks America, a national non-profit that supports communities. Among the 1,035 adults who took part in the poll, 34% had no money set aside for an emergency, while 47% said their savings would cover their living expenses for 90 days or less. Mactrunk | iStock / 360 | Getty Images "This is troubling,'' Paul Weech, president and CEO of NeighborWorks America, said in an e-mail. "We're concerned because our survey shows that many people are still digging themselves out of the hole that they found themselves in during the Great Recession.'' With the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting in February that the average length of unemployment was 31.7 weeks, savings could be a lifeline to surviving day to day. "It takes the average unemployed person a long time to find new employment, often longer than their emergency savings would last," Weech says. Read MoreRetirement: Minimize taxes to maximize savings Ideally, Americans should be setting aside 15% of their gross income to prepare for emergencies, as well as for retirement and other goals, according to financial experts. When it came to financial priorities, only 1% of adults said shoring up an emergency fund was a critical financial goal vs. 5% who agreed a year ago. Putting away money for retirement was No. 1, but the number of respondents who felt that way dropped from 28% a year ago to 24% now. The NeighborWorks findings mirror another survey, released Monday, that also found Americans are doing a poor of job of saving. The report, from personal finance website Bankrate.com, found that 18% of those surveyed are saving nothing from each paycheck, while another 28% are saving 5% or less of their income. While not unexpected, those figures are of concern says Greg McBride, Bankrate.com's chief financial analyst. "The burden of retirement savings is increasingly upon us as individuals, and the need for emergency savings is ever present,'' he says. "The meager savings rate isn't going to cut it.'' There are various reasons so many are saving so little, including a cultural fixation on spending rather than saving, and wages that are virtually frozen in place. "People have recognized the importance of savings and given it a higher priority since the recession,'' McBride says. "But with stagnant incomes they haven't been able to move the needle on how much they've put away.'' Still, the Bankrate.com survey found that 35% of households earning between $50,000 and $74,999 a year were putting away over 10% of their incomes. One in five households earning between $30,000 and $50,000 annually were saving a similar amount. That thrift among the middle class is cause for some optimism, McBride says. "I think it's very encouraging because it shows that savings is not a function of income, it's a function of discipline and living within your means,'' he says. "Specific to the middle class, they know they don't have a six-figure income to fall back on, that they're going to have to do the saving themselves. And I think it's also a great testament to the fact that for all the doom and gloom about people not saving or saving enough, there are consumers from all walks of life that have figured out how to do it.''
72,000,000 Democrat voters. They are completely dependent on the government...exactly the way "they" planned it.
Lol hilarious. This is why you guys dont get shit done. Because each and every issue is blamed on either democrats or republicans. The great descent continues.
I'm not a politician and I live in a state that votes Dem every election, so not sure how I'M supposed to "get shit done".?
ah? ah ? and ah? how does any of what you just said logically relate? Because you are not politician you have no influence on the political landscape and decision making of your country? And what has the state you live in to do with anything? And why are you feeling addressed personally? I spoke in general terms. Despite a country of amazing entrepreneurism at the same time the US is more divided on most issues than ever before. Look at the latest debate on "freedom bill(s)", look at the issue on the war on drugs, immigration, healthcare, financial service regulation, military interventions, pension reform, then look at the incredible economy divide between a few rich and a huge cluster of the poor and a hollowed out middle class. Look at the divide in opinion how to deal with Israel and the Middle East (in America anyone from the lowest political ranks all the way up would not even dare to publicly criticize Israel). Are you seriously saying this has nothing to do with a complete deadlock between two political parties and their stubborn and arrogant ideologies? And you are suggesting you have no part in helping to resolve this gridlock? One of the outcomes of such deadlock and infighting is a loss of respect for the US by outsiders. Look at the latest plunders how pretty much every nation but Japan turned its back on the US and joined the China led Asian Development bank (the UK being one of the first). Look at how pretty much anyone lost faith in the US being even capable to negotiate peace around the world anymore, especially not the Middle East (of course that is not the responsibility of the US in itself but a responsibility for a nation that looks to maintain its grip and influence in the world also in the 21st century). Leaders are supposed to show strength, unity, and the ability to make decisions. All those are currently lacking in the US at least lacking in the organs that are supposed to govern in a well functioning society. Instead greed and big corp have taken over control and rule the US from the inside out. Politicians have become marionettes and hookers to corporate interests especially so in the US. And this ridiculous war between Republican and Democrat philosophies is killing any sort of progress. I think rightly America's allies are getting tired and are more and more openly postulating "USA, get your shit together!!!". The very same demands than the US is demanding of others at certain times.
Maybe if the rest of the world started solving some problems, paying for everything and whatnot, they wouldn't have to rely on the USA to "get it's shit together". Clearly we aren't going to any time soon.
privileges come with responsibilities my friend. You want to stick your nose into every corner of the world then you cannot just agent orange everyone and piss off. Neither can you have a word in South and East Asia in front of China's doorsteps and not pay your dues by maintaining airbases in Korea, Japan, the Philippines and what have you. And you cannot just create one big huge mess in the Middle East (supporting one regime after another with billions of dollars that years later turn anti-West and radicalize before the next revolution knocks on the door; or Support Iran today, fight it tomorrow, support it the day after tomorrow...) without cleaning up and taking responsibility. Saying the US "solved problems" is hysterical, please can you point us to where the US solved problems in Vietnam, any part of Africa, the Middle East, former Russian republics? How is the war on drugs coming along (if you cant climb the wall or fence you dig tunnels, lol). Germany thanks the US for cleaning house in Europe but that is a while ago, would be embarrassing if you had to bring it up as sole example. Fact is the world is turning its head towards the new power house, China, and everyone understands that in the same way as Brits had a hard time to come to terms with the fact that their colonial power turned history, Americans need to learn to accept that it is inevitable that a nation of over 1.2 billion people who are as laborious and economically driven as Chinese (in stark contrast to Indians) will necessarily overshadow a nation that is a fraction its size. It pretty much comes down to humans. Already trade between the EU and China is the largest in the world, larger than the trade the US conducts with China. While the US still had many advantages such as productivity and efficiency the spread is shrinking by each day. The world "paying"? How about the US paying its dues to the UN for a start because everyone else pays. The funny thing is that the US played its game in every ever so remote area of the world and it hates to see that everyone by now realized that the American marketing machine " we protect world peace, we promote democracy" is all bullshit because it only comes down to strategic and economic advantages. So please spare us with your BS about how the US is behaving like a better global citizen. Finally, maybe you want to heed your own economic and capitalist convictions in that it is not such bad idea to care given you owe Japan and China a pretty huge awful lot of money ;-) BTW, I never alluded to anyone outside the US depending on a resolution of the US political deadlock. I was saying a lot of good things can come out if Americans started to smarten up and stopped buying the ideological Rep vs Dem hogwash but instead demanded resolutions and improvements for the middle class.
the only thing most currently vomit about is a trip back 100 years to when businesses were allowed to discriminate on the basis of religious belief and sexual orientation. Thank you for spitting into the faces of all those that worked hard and even died to fight for a better country and equal freedom for everyone. We are all excited to listen to how Mike Penis, sorry I mean Mike Pence, is gonna "clarify" what he actually intended, lol.