70 million Americans teetering on edge of financial ruin

Discussion in 'The Cocktail Lounge' started by Rainman, Jun 25, 2015.

  1. Rainman

    Rainman Senior Investor

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    Results of a survey released by bankrate.com revealed that more than 70 million Americans have no emergency savings. Bad as that sounds it gets worse. Only 22% of Americans have at least 6 months of emergency savings. So the other 78% aren't in that safety zone either. When emergencies do arise and they often do, it means that 78% of Americans will rely on credit cards to make it the next payday or they'll take out loans. Since they have to repay the loans and debts, they won't save any money when they get their paychecks. And it gets to be a vicious cycle . . .
     
  2. Sunflogun

    Sunflogun Well-Known Member

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    The numbers of poverty will continue to increase while this system remains unaltered. Who is ruling the country are the lobbies and the lobbies always want more money, not to restore middle class.
     
  3. Yosh

    Yosh Well-Known Member

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    That is actually a pretty terrifying statistic. What would happen to all those people if some sort of disaster happened, or god forbid, even a war broke out?
    I believe it's actually a similar case in Ireland. Barely anyone I know has any sort of emergency savings.
     
  4. Rainman

    Rainman Senior Investor

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    One would wonder why almost everyone has no savings. The answer probably would be inflation. Had salaries/wages been adjusted with inflation each time the value of the currency plummets maybe the problem wouldn't exist? Real wages for most people have never changed for a really long time and they won't [in the near future] so most people must make-do without savings.
     
  5. gmckee1985

    gmckee1985 Senior Investor

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    Doesnt really surprise me. People arent really taught financial planning. And we live in a society where spending is promoted more than saving and investing. Needs to be more of a focus on financial issues in college anc high school.
     
  6. Penny

    Penny Well-Known Member

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    Also a lot of people are simply living paycheck to paycheck. For a long time I had no savings and I know it was a problem. Eventually I knew I was closer to the end of my career than the beginning (and that assumed I retired at 65 and has no health issues or forced redundancy) and I had to make a change.

    I ended up making a major career change to get an income high enough for me to cover all my costs and make 401k contributions, and with a company that matched contributions. Now I can afford to save.

    No matter what people say, if you are on an average or below average wage and live in a city, once you deal with basic needs, transportation, and healthcare there just isn't anything left.
     
  7. Sugarhill

    Sugarhill Guest

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    This is such a simplistic view of what the real problem is. While 70 million Americans may not have savings, I'm sure that at least 65 million of them have attempted to save or have the minimum six months set aside. Unfortunately, life happens. Even with health insurance, if you have a co-pay, then there goes your savings. Even if you buy a car that you can not only afford, but is below the budget you can set aside, one good accident and the partial insurance payment will blow through your savings.

    It's not all about people aren't smart enough or aren't doing the right thing. You can do everything right and have your life spun out of control due to someone else's mistake.
     
  8. pwarbi

    pwarbi Senior Investor

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    While the economy is starting to recover slowly, this isn't making much difference to the man on the street. Finances are still tight and people aren't any better off now, no matter what the statistics say.

    While bad financial planning might count for some problems that people are facing, most of the time it's no fault of their own that they are struggling to manage and I can see that figure rising before it starts to get better.
     
  9. Rosyrain

    Rosyrain Senior Investor

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    I am among the 70%of people who do not have emergency savings. It is really hard to save when you are trying to pay off all your bills. At least I am trying to do that and not blowing my money on crap. I sometimes fear what would happen if I were to lose my job, but I am working hard toward building my savings up again.
     
  10. rightct

    rightct Well-Known Member

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    What the... ? Those numbers are huge? Do American people not realize the dangers they're exposing themselves at by not having any dime putting aside for dire situations? From these numbers, the sole conclusion I can take is a negative answer... oh, my God. Wake up!
     

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