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Another Article on American's Debt
07-21-2019, 12:30 PM
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#1
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2013
Location: ATL --> Flyover Country
Posts: 6,649
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Another Article on American's Debt
This article rehashes the findings that a lot of Americans couldn't come up with $400 if they had to. Yes, it's as bad as a Marketwatch click bait article, but there isn't a lot of financial news on a Sunday.
Spoiler alert....the reason people can't come up with money? Debt. Big, BIG surprise...right?
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/20/here...d-expense.html
Quote:
Some 40% of Americans would struggle to come up with $400 for an unexpected expense. Just how are so many Americans so short on cash? Anqi Chen at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College recently tried to answer that question. The researchers landed on a plausible cause for why so many Americans are living paycheck to paycheck: debt.
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07-21-2019, 12:43 PM
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#2
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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It’s really sad. Some people of course make bad choices but some are probably just victims of increasing COL. Rents and housing prices are skyrocketing here and really hurting the lower wage earners.
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07-21-2019, 02:25 PM
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#3
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 264
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True, but I bet they don't think twice about going out for a nice dinner or a sporting event. Some people will never learn how to handle their finances.
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07-21-2019, 02:40 PM
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#4
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Confused about dryer sheets
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: GREENVILLE
Posts: 2
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Yet the Survey of Consumer Finances, which asks respondents for their bank account balance, found the share of households who have less than $400 in their checking or savings accounts was closer to 20%.
Having spent the last 10 years of my career working for Habitat for Humanity. I can tell you many of our families had no saving or checking accounts. That way creditors could not go after any money in those accounts. Just a way of life, right or wrong.
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07-21-2019, 02:42 PM
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#5
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Tampa
Posts: 11,197
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At least LAYM.
Live At Your Means.
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TGIM
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07-21-2019, 02:44 PM
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#6
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Conroe, Texas
Posts: 18,593
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Speaking of spending (and CC debt).......All the restaurants around here are full, seven days a week, if they are open on Sunday. At some of the higher end seafood places, it's nothing to have a 1.5 hour wait and they don't take reservations....
Economy is good!!
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07-21-2019, 02:53 PM
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#7
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Midwest
Posts: 2,960
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Xelah
Yet the Survey of Consumer Finances, which asks respondents for their bank account balance, found the share of households who have less than $400 in their checking or savings accounts was closer to 20%.
Having spent the last 10 years of my career working for Habitat for Humanity. I can tell you many of our families had no saving or checking accounts. That way creditors could not go after any money in those accounts. Just a way of life, right or wrong.
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Don't want to drag this off center but I know a person like that. She runs a business. All cash. NO bank accounts. I cannot be so nosey as to ask her what she does with it. Do you know how those people with no bank accounts manage and what they actually do with the money?
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07-21-2019, 03:14 PM
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#8
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Gone but not forgotten
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Peru
Posts: 6,335
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$400?
Each taxpayer's share of the U.S. Debt is $183,000.
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If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.
--Dalai Lama XIV
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07-21-2019, 03:22 PM
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#9
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Confused about dryer sheets
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: GREENVILLE
Posts: 2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by razztazz
Don't want to drag this off center but I know a person like that. She runs a business. All cash. NO bank accounts. I cannot be so nosey as to ask her what she does with it. Do you know how those people with no bank accounts manage and what they actually do with the money?
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Everything is done in cash for the most part. Don't get me wrong most live on little or nothing. I would never be able to make on the small amount of money most have coming in. If you would like a good read check out this book "A Framework for Understanding Poverty" by Ruby K. Payne.
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07-21-2019, 03:30 PM
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#10
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Miraflores,Peru
Posts: 1,992
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Quote:
Originally Posted by imoldernu
$400?
Each taxpayer's share of the U.S. Debt is $183,000.
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We should open up the borders till we get that down to a buck fity!
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07-21-2019, 03:41 PM
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#11
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2013
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aja8888
Speaking of spending (and CC debt).......All the restaurants around here are full, seven days a week, if they are open on Sunday. At some of the higher end seafood places, it's nothing to have a 1.5 hour wait and they don't take reservations....
Economy is good!!
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I don't know, I think that might be a population density thing. When we lived in San Antonio (2006-2012, in the middle of the 'great recession') you couldn't go out to eat ANYWHERE without a wait. Unless it was 2:30 in the afternoon on a Tuesday. I have never lived anywhere else that we had to wait so freaking long for a table.
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07-21-2019, 04:26 PM
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#12
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Midwest
Posts: 2,960
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Xelah
Everything is done in cash for the most part. Don't get me wrong most live on little or nothing. I would never be able to make on the small amount of money most have coming in. If you would like a good read check out this book "A Framework for Understanding Poverty" by Ruby K. Payne.
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Thanks. Wasn't sure if their "no account" technique was a survival mechanism or a scam "Force Multiplier". Sort of the poor man's version of the rich guy's Cayman Island bank account or shell corporation.
I think I already get the gist of poverty (Not to brag, ha ha)
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07-21-2019, 04:34 PM
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#13
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Midwest
Posts: 2,960
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What would the economy look like if everyone " knew the value of a dollar" and was financially savvy and fiscally 100% responsible? If everybody saved their money to be spent on medical care or at least insurance, at least 20% down on a house, socked it away to go back to school to upgrade their skills and put their children through college, never ate out or went to a movie or bought an "Apple Crap Device of the Month" or whatever they're selling nowadays, or anything unless and until they had all that responsible stuff paid for first? I mean I want somebody Top Level, Kudlow, Krugmann, et al. Those guys. Do the math.
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07-21-2019, 04:43 PM
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#14
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Moderator
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 5,598
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I found that "or only have a high school degree" very condescending.
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07-21-2019, 04:48 PM
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#15
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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All I can say is, Wow, am I special!".
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07-21-2019, 04:51 PM
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#16
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: St. Charles
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MarieIG
I found that "or only have a high school degree" very condescending.
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Recently had a conversation with a very good friend. We do not agree, politically, but agree on a lot of the issues. He was a tradesman, I was an engineer (both retired).
There is a vast shortage of trades people, painters, mechanics, welders, et. al. These jobs pay well, and, for now, have pension benefits (if union).
I am at a loss as to why people don't think these are good jobs?
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07-21-2019, 05:21 PM
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#17
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CardsFan
...........I am at a loss as to why people don't think these are good jobs?
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I've worked those jobs. They are very hard on your body. It is one thing when you are 25, another when you are 50+
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07-21-2019, 05:34 PM
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#18
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: St. Charles
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Quote:
Originally Posted by travelover
I've worked those jobs. They are very hard on your body. It is one thing when you are 25, another when you are 50+
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Fully agree. I have worked them as well, tho only for a short period of time. But they ARE well paying jobs, and if someone is not inclined to go to college, there are good careers available.
FWIW, one of my best friends (not the one previously referenced) worked as a tradesman (non-union) for all of his career. Started as a jack of all trades, worked into a lead position as a mechanic. Invested in his 401k. Company got sold, he left with about $1.5 million. Just a mechanic. No stock options. No "enhanced" benefits. Just worked and invested.
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If your not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space.
Never slow down, never grow old!
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07-21-2019, 05:34 PM
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#19
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 3,388
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aja8888
Speaking of spending (and CC debt).......All the restaurants around here are full, seven days a week, if they are open on Sunday. At some of the higher end seafood places, it's nothing to have a 1.5 hour wait and they don't take reservations....
Economy is good!!
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Even Mickey Ds takes CC. I guess most other fast food "restaurants" do the same or will in the near future if they don't want to lose market share.
Cheers!
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07-21-2019, 05:58 PM
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#20
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Teacher Terry
It’s really sad. Some people of course make bad choices but some are probably just victims of increasing COL. Rents and housing prices are skyrocketing here and really hurting the lower wage earners.
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I am sure there are a lot of people with low income who do not have any cash after paying bills. However, 40% is a lot of people.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dean56
True, but I bet they don't think twice about going out for a nice dinner or a sporting event. Some people will never learn how to handle their finances.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aja8888
Speaking of spending (and CC debt).......All the restaurants around here are full, seven days a week, if they are open on Sunday. At some of the higher end seafood places, it's nothing to have a 1.5 hour wait and they don't take reservations....
Economy is good!!
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If the statistics can be trusted, that leaves 60% of Americans with more than $400 cash.
Out of that 60%, let's say 2/3 or 40% of all people have $500 cash or more.
These are the people who go blow $100 for a dinner, and they still have $400 left. All right!
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