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True or false

John1234.

John1234.

Member
Half of all Americans have more debt than savings. 15% are on track to fund one year of retirement. Half of all Americans have no savings at all.
I would prefer the response coming from the US.
 
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John1234. said:
Half of all Americans have more debt than savings. 15% are on track to fund one year of retirement. Half of all Americans have no savings at all.
I would prefer the response coming from the US.
Click to expand...
I mean, it's probably close but it may fall under one of those 'lies, damn lies, and statistics' kinda things.
Half of Americans have more debt than savings:
Do we mean that as actually half of the humans? Does that include children? Retired? Imprisoned? What constitutes debt? If you include a mortgage, yeah basically 99% of homeowners under like 50 are upside-down on debt.
15% on track for 1+ year of retirement:
So we're probably saying what, only the people that are working, and over the age of 45 or something? Most under that age are still paying aforementioned debt and/or not making enough to have a substantial retirement account. Also shit is too expensive and we don't make that much.

I believe the no savings part, since having a pile of money not doing anything really only works if you're rich. My 'not for bills' money is in the markets where everyone else's probably should be unless you want it worth less over time. I can see having a rainy day fund but tbh most people would just use a credit card for that and deal with the interest.
 
Is this going to be one of those threads where people cite some random Internet survey sponsored by a loan company with dubious methodology and open-ended questions, and then claim that some absurd number of people live paycheck to paycheck?

Edit:
When faced with a hypothetical expense of $400, 63 percent of all adults in 2023 said they would have covered it exclusively using cash, savings, or a credit card paid off at the next statement (referred to, altogether, as "cash or its equivalent").
Click to expand...
www.federalreserve.gov

Expenses

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington DC.
www.federalreserve.gov

Most Americans also have retirement accounts, with at least 34% considering they were on track (whatever that means) in 2023: https://www.federalreserve.gov/publ...households-in-2023-retirement-investments.htm
 
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Brainonska511 said:
Is this going to be one of those threads where people cite some random Internet survey sponsored by a loan company with dubious methodology and open-ended questions, and then claim that some absurd number of people live paycheck to paycheck?

Edit:

www.federalreserve.gov

Expenses

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington DC.
www.federalreserve.gov

Most Americans also have retirement accounts, with at least 34% considering they were on track (whatever that means) in 2023: https://www.federalreserve.gov/publ...households-in-2023-retirement-investments.htm
Click to expand...
Be nice if it used a realistic number. $400 is like two grocery trips at this point. Try $1500, that seems to be the starting point any time the check engine light comes on.
 
This graph is interesting. I don't think financial literacy is ~15% lower among women than among men. So are women less confident than they should be or men overly confident in their investing prowess?
1764624506573.png
 
Almost everyone has debt, in some form or another, so half having more debt than savings and half having no savings seems like the same thing.
 
IronWing said:
This graph is interesting. I don't think financial literacy is ~15% lower among women than among men. So are women less confident than they should be or men overly confident in their investing prowess?
View attachment 134638
Click to expand...

Don't discount the low confidence crowd that are taken advantage of by drug dealers, pimps and other human traffickers. They never get out of that lifestyle except as a corpse while the traffickers/ dealers/ pimps get rich.
 
How would people filled with worry about themselves know the financial condition of others they don’t even know?
 
IronWing said:
View attachment 134664
I am surprised that delinquency rates are so high.

More good stuff on credit cards.
www.bankrate.com

Credit Card Ownership And Usage Statistics | Bankrate

Access to credit can differ from person to person. Find out how age, income level, gender and race can nfluence the number of credit cards one holds.
www.bankrate.com
I feel like I'm not keeping up and should obtain more credit cards. 😛
Click to expand...
I've got a variety of them for the initial sign-up and then ongoing benefits. I have what I personally consider to be an absurd combined credit limit, and they just keep increasing the limits. I do occasionally cancel newer ones if they've outlived their usefulness, figuring I can just get another if that particular one seems of value again. I can't be bothered with card churning though, seems like nearly a hobby in itself.
 
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