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The best thing we can do is have the government stop giving money to people who don't need it (rich & poor) and start investing more in infrastructure and things like education that will help people get ahead if they want to.
The US has created a bunch of lazy, complaining and entitled masses. We are used to having flatscreen TVs, iphones, new cars, etc. and there is nothing left to go into savings.
No one is willing to sacrifice or do without. Immigrants seem to do well here and get ahead. Why? They do without and work hard, they don't expect anyone to give them anything. I was talking to one lady who came here with literally nothing, didn't even speak English, she is now a well to do Realtor. We were talking and she said she can't believe how many people complain about not being able to make money. McDonald's is not meant to be a career choice, it's meant to be someplace where you earn extra cash while you get workplace skills (college, etc.).
I shouldn't blame it on the current generation, though they seem to be worse, my Mom is similar. If she has it, she spends it. The woman never met a budget she could follow.
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Interesting point of view. Say you have done your due diligence, and by working a couple of minimum wage jobs you have saved $30,000 for a rainy day. You are debt free and save a little every month.
One day coming home from work, you suffer a brain aneurysm. You've got insurance but like many policies out there, it only covers a fraction of the medical bills. Total costs are $200,000 and the remainder owed by you is $50,000. Ongoing costs? $5000 a month for your care in a nursing home.
Similar scenarios play out every day - for thousands of Americans. Explain how this is due to poor personal choices or "living beyond your means"?
That is certainly not the case for the 62% of Americans cited in the article.
If it were, THAT would be the story, and not lack of savings.
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I don't know anyone who is on welfare and has an iPhone and a nice car.
Not everyone on welfare has a baby mama mama and a baby daddy flush with cash.
Really? You must not get out much. I have been in grocery stores behind people paying with EBT cards, who are holding iPhone 6's, in their manicured (acrylic nails) hands and have seen them loading those groceries into late model cars in the parking lot.
The following are facts about persons defined as "poor" by the Census Bureau, taken from various government reports:
Forty-three percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.
Eighty percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, in 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.
Only 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.
The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)
Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 31 percent own two or more cars.
Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.
Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.
Eighty-nine percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and more than a third have an automatic dishwasher.
This isn't about welfare. It's about people who don't save and have no emergency fund. They'd rather fulfill their immediate desires than stash money away for a rainy day.
DH used to be in the homes of low income seniors. They had all the stuff we had, just a less expensive house. Most had 2 or 3 grown kids or grandkids in the household. Had that income been reported, the senior would not have qualified as low income.
For me it indicates that the American dream is basically dead or am I wrong. Also who do you blame government polices, the irresponsiblity of the American people or both.
I often times don't have that much in my savings account either, but my 401K is an entirely different story. So I wonder if I would be part of the 62%? If so, this paints a far bleaker picture than it should, as I'm set up pretty well for retirement.
I often times don't have that much in my savings account either, but my 401K is an entirely different story. So I wonder if I would be part of the 62%? If so, this paints a far bleaker picture than it should, as I'm set up pretty well for retirement.
If you had to replace the AC or had a major repair how would you handle it?
That socialist bill ayers bozo Barack is the cause of me being negative 1000 glorious god given american dollars and not my own personal responsibility. Its big government I tell ya!
[quote=eye state your name;42522655]Really? You must not get out much. I have been in grocery stores behind people paying with EBT cards, who are holding iPhone 6's, in their manicured (acrylic nails) hands and have seen them loading those groceries into late model cars in the parking lot.
The following are facts about persons defined as "poor" by the Census Bureau, taken from various government reports:
Forty-three percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.
Eighty percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, in 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.
Only 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.
The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)
Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 31 percent own two or more cars.
Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.
Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.
Eighty-nine percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and more than a third have an automatic dishwasher.
[t/QUOTE]
Do you realize that government poverty statistics are pretty much useless because they don't count government handouts (like welfare, food stamps, and housing subsidies) and they don't count assets like houses and retirement plans.
Most poor people are not poor their whole lifetime and most of the top 1% are not in the top 1% their whole lifetime. So a lot of poor people have a lot of "stuff" because they acquired their "stuff" in earlier times when they were not poor.,
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