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I doubt most people have lived on half their income as I have. What does that have to do with the concept of saving which is to prioritize consumption? Why do you think treasury yields are so low?
If you think pithy, silly remarks is insightful, you will not save well.
No , playing the victom and crying oh poor me instead of enjoying all life has to offer.
Who is playing the victim? I am just pointing out the junk economics of the middle class which helps to impoverish them and not me. However it will impoverish us all in real terms because as the American middle class becomes subsistence slaves innovation will slow.
All you are doing is saying to keep within your means. Wow, the sky is blue. Thank you Suze Orman.
Now it's gimme gimme gimme. Gotta have the newest and best thing out there. Ipad, I want it. Fancy smancy puter I want it. New extravagant home to impress my friends I want it. Who pays for it?? Who cares.............
"Frugality used to be a central middle-class theme. What happened to it? We now read the stories of middle-class families in free fall because they lost a job and had no savings. Back in the mists of time, there was a rule about setting aside six months of salary to cover a possible job loss. Not only did the middle class stop saving, but it famously borrowed to maintain extravagant living beyond what its stagnating salaries could support.
Middle-class Americans used to throw "mortgage burning parties," when, after 30 years, they finally paid off their home loans. They understood as long as they had a mortgage, they were not full homeowners.
But come the housing bubble of the last decade, middle-class people no longer viewed their rising home prices as mere whipped cream on a prudent savings plan. They saw a higher value as the main course to be quickly devoured by borrowing against it. Now Americans' equity in their homes (the home's value minus mortgage) is half what it was in 2006.
Many middle-class parents of the '50s and '60s well remembered the privations of the Great Depression. Thus, they raised their children to be survivors in an uncertain world, not as princes and princesses who can do no wrong. They understood the importance of education and manners. They regarded teachers as authorities to be respected. " Middle Class Aided Its Own Decline - Rasmussen Reports™
Yes, They voted for the idiots running this Country now... President, down to Congress.
The sky is blue. There is nothing insightful about it. You did not even identify the wealth creation mechanism of not consuming. You can read that in Sunday school in the book of proverbs. Most people thought they were saving, and it put them into debt. You admitted to taking on debt with a mortgage, so you are not even consistent. The debt doesn't even matter per se. its the balance sheet that matters.
You will not be rewarded for "saving" because of a lack of aggregate demand. That is reflected in the bond market.
The average income in a household that uses coupons is $75,000-$100,000.
Think about that for a second. Why would household with twice the average income in the US be more likely to coupon than those who make less?
My theory is because people who are better managers of their incomes tend to also make more. I live in one of the wealthiest counties in the country, and upscale consignment sales are huge here.
Learning to manage your income and expenses give you a chance to think beyond week to week paychecks and map out a course to become truly successful. But far too many people aren't willing to think beyond getting the next goodie and then complain about living paycheck to paycheck.
The sky is blue. There is nothing insightful about it. You can read that in Sunday school in the book of proverbs. Most people thought they were saving, and it put them into debt. You admitted to taking on debt with a mortgage, so you are not even consistent. The debt doesn't even matter per se. its the balance sheet that matters.
You will not be rewarded for "saving" because of a lack of aggregate demand. That is reflected in the bond market.
There's good debt and bad debt.
I am already rewarded for savings..got to retire early.
And my balance sheet is just fine thank you.
The glass is either 1/2 full or 1/2 empty. It's a sad lot in life if you go through it thinking it's 1/2 empty and "you didn't get yours".
Me..my philosophy is "when handed a lemon go off and make some lemonade".
I'm quite content with my choices in life. Theory always pans out on paper but reality can be quite a different thing.
That is certainly an aspect of it, but again what was fatal is not recognizing it as spending.
Your home is the most important investment you'll make.
The tag line above can be found everywhere.
I always thought industrial capital was an investment.
However you cannot deny the role that our financial system played. If you collected 10 thousand dollars for a down payment over a year and the price of the house you wanted went up 20 thousand, does that not cause a bit of a dilemma?
The government was complicit in causing the housing bubble by getting directly involved in promoting and providing access to mortgages that many would have never qualified for outside of government regulations. Same for the health care cost bubble, and the student loan bubble that will be bursting shortly.
It's more like health care and other costs have risen while wages have not kept pace. The upper percentiles steal from everyone else all the time and then try to figure out how to make everyone else take the blame.
Back then a CEO was content to earn ten times what an average worker made. He was also content to have one nice home and a nice car. Now he wants four homes, six cars and makes sure he earns 500 times what the average worker does to pay for it.
There's good debt and bad debt.
I am already rewarded for savings..got to retire early.
And my balance sheet is just fine thank you.
The glass is either 1/2 full or 1/2 empty. It's a sad lot in life if you go through it thinking it's 1/2 empty and "you didn't get yours".
Me..my philosophy is "when handed a lemon go off and make some lemonade".
I'm quite content with my choices in life. Theory always pans out on paper but reality can be quite a different thing.
What does your personal life have to do with it? Go to the fashion and good looks forum if you like.
My theory was that this Caterpillar down grade was time to buy. That was around the time I bought the rail road with the most expanded capacity because the trains were getting backed up. Warren Buffet bought me out two years later.
Owens: Caterpillar Chief Says It's Been Hammered By Steel, But Sees Prices Declining (Forbes.com) Nerves of steel? Higher metal costs are squeezing margins at Caterpillar (nyse: CAT - news - people ), but its chief executive expects steel prices to moderate and even decline in the second half of 2005. But if prices don't bend, a warning:
I muttered to myself this was a mining company and bought it now at + 83% not including dividends.
I also don't even need lemons for lemon aid. I just pick this on the way home and store it.
I'd say I am doing fine with the resources I have. What does that have to do with the class war that the rich are are engaging in? What does that have to do with economic theory?
The government was complicit in causing the housing bubble by getting directly involved in promoting and providing access to mortgages that many would have never qualified for outside of government regulations. Same for the health care cost bubble, and the student loan bubble that will be bursting shortly.
It was the banking industry that provided those politicians.
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