Even though the mainstream media is touting a strong and vibrant economy, most Americans are still feeling a financial pinch. In fact, new data shows that roughly 40% of Americans could not even cover a $400 emergency expense.
Based on those numbers alone, those same Americans likely have very little in savings and live paycheck to paycheck. The new report from the Federal Reserve Board states that those who don’t have the cash on hand say they’d have to cover it by borrowing the money or selling something.
The study was drawn from the Board’s fifth annual Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking, which looks at the economic health of Americans. The survey of 12,000 people examined their income, employment, unexpected expenses, banking and credit, housing, education, and retirement planning in November and December 2017.
CNN Money reports that overall, the financial situation of American households has improved during the past five years, according to the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households report. It shows that in 2017, 74% of adults reported feeling at least “okay” financially, an increase of 10 percentage points from the first survey four years earlier in 2013. That’s a slight improvement from the 50% who couldn’t afford a $400 emergency in 2013.
The number has been ticking down each year since, but that’s little comfort to those who make up the 40% of adults unable to cover emergency expenses. “This year’s survey finds that rising levels of employment are translating into improved financial conditions for many but not all Americans,” Federal Reserve Board Governor Lael Brainard said in a press release, “with one-third now reporting they are living comfortably and another 40% reporting they are doing okay financially.”
But many are still struggling, and rather than sugarcoating the liberal policies that drive poverty, we prefer to just state the obvious. The wealth gap continues to widen in places where leftist-leaning and borderline communist policies are in place, such as California. Those with worthless college degrees that put them tens of thousands of dollars in debt are struggling to pay off those loans and often face tough financial decisions because of it.
“The finding that four-in-ten adults couldn’t cover an unexpected $400 expense without selling something or borrowing money is troubling,” said Greg McBride, the chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com. “Nothing is more fundamental to achieving financial stability than having savings that can be drawn upon when the unexpected occurs.”
Compounding the issue is inflation. Prices are going up for everything while wages remain stagnant. In places where wages were forcibly risen by law, poverty and homelessness jumped as people were laid off. It also creates higher prices that the now unemployed simply cannot afford. It’s basic economics really, and the sooner the left realizes that the government’s stranglehold on the economy is the problem, not the solution, we could have some real economic abundance in the United States.
Until then, nearly 51 million US households don’t earn enough to cover basics like rent and food. That comes out to about 43% of American households. Dozens of companies in recent weeks have said they already hiked prices or plan to in the coming months to combat inflation. Plus, the Federal Reserve is gradually raising interest rates, which will make auto loans and mortgages more expensive, not to mention push those already living paycheck to paycheck further down as they scramble to cover for the increase in their interest payments.
California, New Mexico, and Hawaii have the largest share of struggling families, at 49% each. North Dakota has the lowest at 32%.
“Nothing is more fundamental to achieving financial stability than having savings that can be drawn upon when the unexpected occurs.”
except that you can’t grow a savings of any kind when interest rates are negative to minuscule.
We lived a long time paycheck to paycheck. I was a stay at home mom except for 8 yrs of our 44 yr marriage.
I learned early to pinch his pennies till they squealed, never wasted ANY thing, buy on sales and grow as much food as I knew how.
We never needed a .gov handout either. My park ranger neighbor, wife and now 4 little ones are doing the same thing today. It can be done.
Stay out of debt, live on or below your means.
prep your souls
except that you can’t grow a savings of any kind when interest rates are negative to minuscule.
Exactly. I put $25,000 into a savings account and I get paid $9.82 a quarter in interest.
Are you kidding? You left $25,000 in a savings account?!
Did you not notice how the market was doing for the last 10 damn years?
Hell, 3 years ago you could have purchased 1 Ethereum for $0.50. If you purchased Netflix 10 years ago you would have 51x your investment. Are you guys professionals at staying poor?
I put $25,000,000 into a savings account and I get paid a quarter in interest.
25,000 and you got 9.82? We just bought a house and had money in savings for the down payment, we had 23,000 and were drawing over 20 in interest a month. You better seek a better bank.
Hey Dan, what are you a loan shark. Trekker Out
Grandee, you’re right for the most part but many people do not save. Regardless of whatever interest rates are, people should still save. Many do not discipline themselves enough for that. I also believe that many are also trying to dig themselves out of debt just to go back into debt again. This is not fallacy. My own brother and his wife make more than my wife and I and have axed for loans several times. I will not loan money to people who have to have new cellphones every six months and go out to eat several times a week. I also don’t like reading articles that seem to portray people as victims of the system when they’re really victims of their own choices.
Stay quiet Be smart
you gotta think of all purchases as a debt/depreciation buy and conside the time/value of your money to decide if it is worth buying; it usually is not if it is new.
I bought a huge load of .999 Fine Silver 1 Oz rounds on the cheap and paid with US Dollars. I feel like I ripped them off bigtime. hahahahahahahaha
Made in China?
John, mine are made in Nevada
“Stay out of debt, live on or below your means.” Grandee, you hit that one right out of the ball park. It’s sad most people today can’t grasp that simple concept.
I ain’t no stock broker, but Altria pays a 5% Div. at today’s stock price. and people sure ain’t going to quit using Tobacco. Trekker Out
I can honestly say I CAN cover a $400 emergency deal IF I had to. No loan debt or credit card debt to worry about. My vehicles come from private owners for cash only. I only spend money on IMPORTANT things like my bills and prepping. I have my priorities straight. It’s still amazing sometimes how gullible people are. All the advertising for stupid things that people swear up and down you can’t live without. Then they buy into that shit hook line and sinker without ever questioning it and go drowning in credit card debt to pay for the shit. Like I said, I have my priorities straight. I know what counts more than anything else out there.
Just like a broken record parrot.. So what’s your credit score Dep BH? Is your house paid off yet? Or are you still wasting money on Rent? How much do you have saved for retirement? LMFO!!
He lives in a van down by the river.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv2VIEY9-A8
JS, LMAO. I always knew there were good reasons to throw away my ‘boob tube’, LOL.
And for the record I live with my mom. My buGout location is my cousins place. See it’s easy to have no debt. IMO everyone should live with their parents at least until their mid 40’s.
TSB, why the hell are you bringing this up again? My ‘give a damn’ has been broken forever especially concerning credit and especially at this point knowing the shape of our economy. My head is above water. I’m very-well stocked on preps and still stacking. I’m not stressed out over any type of debt, period. Laugh all you want asshole. I don’t have a damn thing to apologize for.
I’ll bet that the majority of these people are paying close to $100 each month for a damn “smart phone”
Priorities?
Harbard, agreed that most people can’t get their priorities straight.
Priorities Strait? Shall we talk about Renting vs home and property (acres) ownership. Everything I have is full paid off, vehicles, pull trailers, equipment, solar off grid and house and property, and all I have is a few hundred dollars annual property tax bill. Really cheap living.
How much do you blow a year in Rent DEP BH?? and in the end you have nothing but memories.. lol Then when you can make the rent, out the door you went.
Here is DEP BH’s Story about renting… lol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97ECZMvbLxg
Everything I have is full paid off, vehicles, pull trailers, equipment, solar off grid and house and property, and all I have is a few hundred dollars annual property tax bill.
Golf Clap?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP6v4T3VT7I
TSB, there you go again, sounding like some ignorant snob lecturing to common people. You’ve supposedly worked in the credit industry in the past, right? Then you know damn good and well that NOT EVERYONE MEETS THE CRITERIA IN THESE CREDIT POLICIES OUT HERE, ESPECIALLY IN THIS ECONOMY. I tried a bunch of times before the economic downturn to get access to credit for 2 particular things but everyone and their cat turned me down. Yeah I gave up on it after a while and in some ways it turned out I was better off giving up on it. At least I have ‘peace of mind’ knowing I can survive for a long time after SHTF. I’ve got skills and preps. How many others out there have those items? Most of them DON’T and WON’T HAVE BECAUSE OF THEIR CREDIT CARD BILLS, CAR NOTES, ETC. If I’m gonna go broke to have something at least let it be for things I know guarantee me survival down the road. That’s a lot easier for me to live with.
Hey Blow Boy, you know one thing my Cuz has that you don’t have? It’s something money can’t buy, Friends!!!
You Gotta Know How To Live Poor. I sure didn’t have to practice that one. Trekker Out
MT, I’ve always known how to live poor. I live, eat, drink, and sleep it.
This drives me nuts.
I live with some of the poorest
people in America which has some of the highest
costs of living in America.
It is called Hawaii.
The real key to surviving is to own real estate
and get out of debt. Also develop skills
and buy tools.
If you read comments here, most are fairly well
off except (Hcks) because we work at surviving.
I don’t think most of us are that well off, monetarily,
but we have “stuff”.
I got mine. Get one. Or buy a metal detector and sluice and a gold pan. It’s free money. 🙂
except (Hcks) because we work at surviving.
I think that guy is just nuts.
Money:
Inheritance
Marriage
Employment/business
Investments
Budget/Saving
_
It’s not what you make, it’s what you keep.
_
Throw out your television. It is one big destructive psychological program designed to turn you sick, queer, broke, and buying, especially buying into big Pharma.
_
Fast on Friday as your ancestors did.
Rid yourself of parasites internally. They keep you hungry.
Rid yourself of human parasites. They keep you hungry.
_
I would agree with that.
even the great fox news is full of commercials of drugs you should be taking that you do not need if you eat right.
Throw out your television. It is one big destructive psychological program designed to turn you sick, queer, broke, and buying, especially buying into big Pharma.
You can’t watch a TV show nowadays without the homosexual agenda being pushed down your throat.
Im in Brazil Indiana and our city population is just over 9,000 i beleive. Any how it was released that we are the poorest city in the state annual personal avarage income of 29,000 but due to our population we qualify as a city not a town cus there are alot of poorer towns. I beleive the biggest factor is drugs mostly meth and also corruption. Im thinking that 70% + are on food stamps.
Drugs not only destroy the users, but the destroy the families of the users. I have seen more and more parents totally bankrupt themselves trying to save their kids with rehabs, attorneys, and trying to keep them out of jail. Then the kids rob the house to get more drug money.
But hey, Obama pushed the open drug laws, this is what we get.
You are a criminal if you smoke a cigarette, but if you smoke marijuana you are a esteemed citizen.
JS, good points. And all of the states pushing to legalize pot are just going to make their problems worse, not to mention they still have to contend with federal laws prohibiting pot.
House hold income not per person. But we do have all new roads and water and sewer lines lol
if you get all the welfare benefits you are entitled by the government to it equates to a $30 an hour job.
The function of the bourgeois, social tranche, so far as I can tell, is to service those proles, who you so dislike.
The secular govt will say you are ‘old guard’ (read, obsolete), once you have consolidated any financial, physical, or intellectual resource, of interest to the state. (Eminent domain.)
In general, your status has resulted, through the leveraging of subsidies, which the state has offered to you. (champagne socialists)
If you don’t understand the references, I wasn’t writing it to you.
Well this does Not surprise me at all. Real wages are at what 1980’s levels if that and the real cost of Everything is through the god damned roof. Corporate America and our swell Gov’t have pulled yet another fast-one on us folks. Wages for the average person are pretty much a damn joke and the cost of living, no the cost of literally EVERYTHING is up in the clouds. I had my so called annual review – scored well and didn’t even get .50 stinking CENTS!!! WTF, really WTF is up with that one? Typical Corp America and Corp Americas GREED is what’s up with that one boys & girls and I work for (slave for) a Fortune 10 corporation…so it’s not like I work for some tiny, Mickey Mouse outfit. It’s all a monster disgrace. I have ZERO incentive to push myself or to go the extra mile – look what it got me and I was working hard and doing the true work of 2 people and I get less than .50 cents. You know what, keep that garbage and insert in your rectum and I hope all of the execs get anal cancer and AIDS at the same time. The End.
Thats it. Wages have not risen in 30 years, but housing has tripled.
I about about to send my daughter away to college. It will cost $96,000 for four years at the State University.
30 years ago it cost me $25,000 for my college.
60 years ago it cost $5,800 for 4 years for my father.
That is 2 years entry level salary for my daughter.
It was 1 year entry level salary for me.
It was 3/4 a year of entry level salary for my father.
going to get worse.
if you think people do not have money now, just wait until gas prices go up over the summer and interest rates continue to rise.
people are not going to be able to afford $200 costs.
it’s all their fault though. a 9 year economic expansion and they just piled on more debt and failed to cut any costs.
Gas prices will be a prerequisite to collapse, just like they were in 2009.
I’m a Christian…gave $20 to a guy sittin on a walmart curb Saturday—BUT, how many of these ‘poor’ creatures discussed here have a smart phone–I don’t
hwo many have cable tv….I don’t
how many have sculptured nails…hair appts…I don’t
how many buy clothes from walmart/sears/penney’s/kmart…I don’t (yard sale/flea mkt)
how many have new cars…I don’t..14 years bought new
how many get daily newspaper…I don’t
how many take vacations…I don’t
how many eat out once a week…I don’t
how many of these people have food/insurance/doctors/daycare provided for by ‘others’…I don’t
how many have entertainment like skating/movies/ball games, etc…I don’t
I am too, but I don’t give cash to beggars or vagrants. I ask them what they need and then get it for them. It’s cheaper, and it puzzles the hell out of them.
One guy was begging for money outside a grocery store. I asked him what for. He said he wanted some food. I asked him what in particular he wanted. He said eggs. So I took him inside the store, went to the dairy case, picked up a dozen eggs, went to the checkout, paid for them, and then handed the eggs to him. I left him wondering what to do with the eggs.
I give to the church benevolent fund. At least they can vet the person receiving the money. I don’t want my hard earned money going to a drug addict to enable more bad behavior.
I just pass up the bums and ignore them altogether. I don’t have money to give up to anyone with a drinking problem or drug problem.
When I was a kid I had a Stretch Armstrong. Now I have a stretch wallet.
Ya Gotta Know How to live poor. make very little income spend less than you make. avoid debt like it was the plague.
Ya Gotta Know How to live poor.
You don’t have to spend money to be wealthy. And if you have to spend money, pay cash.
I have seen so many people drown in debt. All because they bought garbage they only used once and put away.
Then you can pick it up at a garage sale for a couple of bucks while they are still making credit card payments on it.
If Squalor and Poverty were towns, they would have the fastest growing populations in America as more and more Americans are coming to live in Squalor and Poverty. SHTF does have to come in one bold stroke, it can happen in slow motion.
Time for gold to head up.