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You don't have a problem, and you set the parameters?
How do you know who has medical problems or lives outside of their means?
You don't.
Talk about painting with a wide brush.
I've attached the US census bureau data on income.
People don't make enough to save as you would like for them to save.
But you don't call the shots.
You're also making great assumptions on data not in evidence.
I [single parent] earned a lower middle class income most of my life.
Thanks to God and my depression era parents I was frugal and lived
[comfortably] below my means and managed to save money, no debt
and retire early. I know it can be done; I did it. But first one must
start with the premise: "It's not what you earn, it's what you save
that counts."
Lifestyle and making good personal choices are extremely important.
I'll give you another example of a different kind of single parent.
She was a coworker. Her salary was more than mine. Neither she
nor her child had medical issues. She would complain about not having
any money to pay the rent, electric, etc. I felt sorry for her until one day
after payday, she came to work with professionally done hair and nails
and bragging about it.
What on earth makes you think they need a bucket of money? By the time one retires, they should be relatively debt free. Granted, if they intend to spend their retirement years cruising the world on endless vacations, etc, they'll need a boatload of money, but for the most part, retirement is cheap.
I'm retired and I live on practically nothing. It's not hard.
Exactly.
One must decide which is more important... that new toy or vacation... or saving money for a rainy day and retirement.
Yes, I have had vacations and toys... but my economic freedom meant more to me than the latest gadget or cruise.
Fortunately, if one is wise and disciplined, lives in a low cost-of-living area and has no debt, such freedom comes easy.
When I live in the US (and I do every now and again because of my employment contracts), the average rent is $1,500 for a 2 bedroom apartment.
I happen to own a few houses and rent them out.
But I'll be retiring in a few years, maybe.
I've got a good work situation and have no real desire to give it up.
Ahh ok.. Now i see...
I just have my one home, I bought in in 1993, for $68,200, it's now valued at over 180K, even with the house prices falling.
I purchased a home WITHIN MY MEANS, something I could afford. A nice 3 bedroom townhome, 1600 plus sq feet. Not a mansion by any means, large enough for my family.
When a person lives within their means, life is good. You can save money.
I drive a car that's over 8 years old, paid for. I have a single credit card. Life is good, because I took control, and didn't rely on someone else.
I purchased a home WITHIN MY MEANS, something I could afford. A nice 3 bedroom townhome, 1600 plus sq feet. Not a mansion by any means, large enough for my family.
When a person lives within their means, life is good. You can save money.
I drive a car that's over 8 years old, paid for. I have a single credit card. Life is good, because I took control, and didn't rely on someone else.
Be grateful that government, in its magnanimity, allowed the sale of a home WITHIN YOUR MEANS.
Government does not allow the sale of a home WITHIN MY MEANS.
One must decide which is more important... that new toy or vacation... or saving money for a rainy day and retirement.
Yes, I have had vacations and toys... but my economic freedom meant more to me than the latest gadget or cruise.
Fortunately, if one is wise and disciplined, lives in a low cost-of-living area and has no debt, such freedom comes easy.
.
New toys and vacations are completely off my radar.
My speed is more like juggling rent (for a room in a house with nine other people), food, utilities, and student loan payments.
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