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Subscribe to RSSMost Americans don't have enough money saved for a rainy day -- or even a cloudy one.
A new survey from Bankrate.com finds that 28 percent of Americans haven’t saved any money at all to cover their bills in case of a job loss or other disaster.
Only 25 percent of people had six months of savings -- the usual amount financial experts say you should have socked away for an emergency.
And six months might not even be enough given how long it’s taken people to find a job these days. The median duration of unemployment was 20 weeks in May, or about five months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For older Americans it can be much longer.
Another 21 percent said they had some money saved up, but not even enough to cover three months of expenses.
Taken together with those who hadn’t saved at all, 49 percent of people couldn’t go three months without a paycheck. That’s up from 46 percent last year.
Still, the figure is better than six years ago, when a similar Bankrate.com survey found that 61 percent didn’t have three months of living expenses saved up.
The recession and the weak recovery have been a wake-up call for many Americans, sparking an increase in savings and a decline in debt. But recently there have been signs that people are taking on debt again for things like cars and education, and relying more on their credit cards.
It’s not clear whether that’s by choice or necessity, although Bankrate research did show that about one-third of those surveyed were less comfortable with their savings than they were a year ago.
The survey was based on telephone interviews with 1,000 Americans.
Related:
Gen X may have taken biggest hit in economic downturn
Long-term unemployed losing benefits as job picture improves
Leave a Comment:
This is good news as our constant spending is supporting the economy and economic growth. Remember what Cheney said? He said 'Deficits don't matter' and I think he meant that especially for your typical American. Remember what Bush said after 9/11, go out and do the patriotic thing and spend all your money. Then of course Obama (like GW) wants us all to blow all our money on houses, and for us to buy a car with money we don't have with his wonderful programs like Cash for Clunkers.
Us Americans not having any money is a good thing. Saving is for suckers. Debt is the road to riches and prosperity because that's what our government is saying.
For "emergency", the amount you have saved matters less than the amount you are able to borrow.
Most Americans don't have a lot of cash. But they have credit, or collaterizable assets. The whole reason why capitalism works is because of the ability to accumulate debt, wheter it be $200,000 for a mortgage, or $200,000,000 for a hot internet startup. The trick is to build that "credibility" for ppl lend you money. Almost all ppl are trusted to have a credit card. Only a handful are trusted to have venture capital, however. But poor or rich, "debt" IS the road to prosperity as you so eloquently mention! ;)
Right. (sarc) Your debt is the the road to someone else's prosperity.
Well consumer debt is the road to helping the Federal Reserve and the world bankster cartels proseper. Those guys of course help get the presidents reelected. So debt is what the presidents want for us. This is being cynical of course but it is also very true.
So is your savings...on which you get insterest that is far below inflation.
At least if you finance something you don't have enough "savings" for...you get to use it. Otherwise, just live out in the street, it's free. Hitch hike wherever you go. Never learn anything past a HS diploma (which is practically worthless these days). And watch inflation eat away at your bank.
What the heck, almost 52% have enough money saved to pay expenses for six months. I submit that this is wrong, if that many Americans have that much money on hand then the government and the media have been lying to the people. How can there be a economic break down with Americans having upwards of 18-20,000 dollars in savings. They also say that almost 50% of the population is on food stamps, again I say someone is lying. If you drive around my city on the weekends you will see all of the restaurant's with customers waiting in line for dinner, do you call that a recession. I believe the whole thing is a corporate and government conspiracy to manipulate the economy for their own benefit. I could see some people cutting back enough to save maybe for a month of expenses but not six.
I find it astonishing that after a major economic bust the politicians can say with a straight face that Americans need to get out and spend (eventhough you've got massive debt yourselves), it's not time to save or get yourselves out of debt, you need to move money around the economy (eventhough they did footnote that you should have a rainy day fund), that unemployment benefits are good for the economy and make money, and that people need more taxes right now. Hey that's great, with almost 50% of Americans no longer paying taxes, almost 50% of Americans now accepting some form of Federal aid, our having an 8.2% unemployment rate, and over 30% of Americans not having ANY savings we are supposed to have a sunny attitude towards the economy. Yeah it's sure getting better now, isn't it?!?!
True, but at least you have a little something when you get ready to use it. Debt for a permanent or appreciable asset, like a house, is not bad. High interest debt for consumer products is stupid.
You can have your bags of money buried in the backyard but if the FED prints more fiat money, deflates the value of what you buried then it's pretty much a no win situation. Remember what happened to Germany prior to world war II
That's probably because that same percentage don't have jobs
"six months might not even be enough given how long it’s taken people to find a job these days."
Tell that to folks that have been out of work for more than 2 years.
The private sector can create
jobs faster than the government with efficient access to capital, but the
government has to ensure capital markets are worthy of the public's trust.
With more than $4 trillion in cash setting on the sidelines, it should come as a surprise to no one why the economy added only 69,000 jobs in May and unemployment grew to 8.2%. The fact is, Americans no longer trust Wall Street, which reflects negatively on federal banking and market regulators tasked with protecting investors.
Please sign the petition to the U.S. Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committee asking for improved oversight of federal banking and market regulators.
To read more about what we’re trying to do and to sign the petition, click here:
http://www.change.org/petitions/u-s-senate-banking-and-u-s-house-financial-services-committees-use-technology-to-provide-oversight-of-u-s-banking-and-market-regulators?share_id=HTpDoOQNJgpe=d2e
It'll just take a minute!
Signed, sealed and hopefully delivered.
Thank you Party of No and Market Fundamentalists!
If only Evangelical Christians worshipped God and not Mammon...
The Reichwing have actively spent 30 years destroying the Middle Class, no thanks to their activist Conservative Supreme Court.
@Alan, lol! Your sarcasm absolutely deserves a prize!
You know, people haven't EVER saved enough, and the downturn makes it worse. And it gets worse with each passing generation. Nobody is going to change just because they know this, either. At this point, you either save enough, or there's really not much chance that you ever will.
30% of people not having any savings for a "rainy day" is not suprising AT ALL considering that we have a total unemployment rate of around 15% (U6 Model Unemployment Rate). If people cannot earn they certainly cannot save. Of those who do work 40% are making minimum wages and they certainly cannot even meet basic living expenses (food, clothing, shelter, medical), let alone save. They are actually going into the "hole" a little more each pay cycle. It certainly doesn't take a rocket scientist to do the math on these figures, thus no big suprise!
Something else to consider... Any debt you incur now will slowly lose its bite over time as inflation makes the amounts meaningless, if wages actually keep up..
No surprise here. Some years ago, schools taught something called Home Economics which included the wisdom of having some savings, and subsequently, most people did. Now, kids instead learn ethnic history and how to put a condom on a cucumber.....no surprise that no one has any savings.
Ethnic history is otherwise know as...history.
And they better know how to put on a condom.
It'd just be a smart idea if they actually learned about money too, which has NEVER been taught in school in an effective way, even in home economics. And we know that Math has been sliding. That would work too.
Kids aren't unable to learn many things. They simply have to bother to be taugh.
Course the thing about the economic multiplier - which is the thing they are talking about when they say spend and help the economy - is, the multiplier effect only works when you spend in the economic sphere you reside in. Buying chinese stuff and imported cars doe nothing but damage to the US economy if the foreigners are not buying US made stuff. So all those people that said buy and spark the economy were in fact uneducated in econ 101.
I once had over $10,000 in a savings account, with more than $7,000 in a checking account. That was just over 20 years ago when I was finally able to start "socking away" money for retirement.... Flash forward to about 10 years ago when I lost a good job and had to live off the savings and checking accounts, and it ALL got used to pay bills that used to be covered by part of the now-non-existent paychecks. Almost two years ago, my mother died (who i was helping to support, even though I was having problems supporting myself) and I got about $30,000 (total, it was NOT a lump-sum pay-out) inheritance -- from her life insurance policy and the sale of the house; more than $50,000 of the house sale went to pay HER past-due bills.
The inheritance went to pay two for years rent a new-to-me 2005 van, clothing, FOOD, and paid off a few past-due bills. Today, I have less than $1,000 in the bank because there are very few actual full-time permanent jobs available and employers here WILL NOT HIRE A 50-YEAR-OLD WHO HAS MEDICAL/PHYSICAL PROBLEMS.
Last week my TOTAL hours worked for pay was a whopping 2 hours. You folks who say that there are plenty of jobs to be had and saving money isn't at all difficult and we just need to live within our means really need to open your eyes to REALITY.
Holy cow! 72% have a rainy day fund??? That glass is almost 3/4 full! Talk about reading numbers in a negative spin. I'm absolutely AMAZED the numbers are that high considering that's like ALL of the working citizens who aren't underemployed or unemployed right now.
Agnon, I know EXACTLY how you feel. In late 2006 I got laid off from My last job. Then in early 2007, my wife and the love of my life, had a serious stroke caused by the medication they gave her for Hep C. I had to become her primary care-giver from then until her Passing last month. At the time I got laid off. I had about 70Gs in Savings, was buying my own house, and looking at keeping it in investments until my principal on the house was low enough for me to pay it off, about another 30Gs. I wasn't worried because, working in telecom for 30 years, I had NEVER gone more than 6 months unemployed before.
Instead, I was forced by circumstance to provide 24-hour care to my invalid wife. I used every social safety net program I could find and was still able to make my mortgage payments and bills for 5 years until the money ran out. Now my wife is dead, my savings are gone, my home is being foreclosed on and the only reason I don't try to sell it is that I'm living here rent-free until they throw me out in the streets. I qualified for VRAP, which'll pay me about $1500/mo to go back to school but the schools that participate have already started their semesters. So I'm trying to hang on until fall on food stamps since the last income I had was my wife's SSD of $475/mo, which ended in May. If that doesn't work, I suppose I could put my weapons systems skills up to the highest bidder. But they have to let ME handle Target Selection.
Had $40,000 in IRA all gone. Had a house. Gone. Bankrupcy due to job loss. Whoa, no job. No money. 59 year old woman with bad back, Congestive Heart Failure. Husband still has job at $12 an hour. SS just said he made too much money last year and is going to take a check to make it even. This is my reality.
That is yours, and Mitt Romney makes $70,000 a day doing nothing.
Of those who have no savings, I wonder what percentage of them:
The bottom line is, a lot of Amercans COULD have savings if they would just give up some of the things they deem necessities that they could easily live without. I am convinced most Americans don't have savings because they lack the discipline to deny themselves any pleasure when they have the money in their pocket to buy it.
knightofdispair
Don't forget that Obama is worth $10 million. Not bad for a man who never had a job other than community organizer.
Don't forget that most professional athletes are worth more than $10 Million. Not bad for someone who has never actually WORKED..........
Agnon, I call b.s. on that thought.
There is a reason for no money saved because the American people have decided to fill there houses with all the made in China they can find. Aslo anything foriegn made you know TVs Cars Electronics keeping Americans from working. Go figure no money saved no jobs it makes me sick.
can3yon;
Most pro athletes get contracts to play for at least $2 million a year, for at least three years. Then they get contracts to shill for some company for at least $2 million a year. Add to that the compensation they get for "public appearances" and such. Figure it out.
RANDY-802370
Come over to my apartment and I'll show all the stuff you listed. Oh, wait, I can't do that -- because I don't have much at all.
As for the foreign made stuff, blame the Big Business Corporations for that. It costs less to have it all made in China -- where people work for less than $20 an hour. Hey, Randy, could YOU get by on less than $20 an hour?
knightofdespair, are you kidding us? "Any debt you incur now will slowly lose its bite over time as inflation makes the amounts meaningless, if wages actually keep up." Yeah, right. Have you paid attention too the inflation rate here, say the last three years or so?
So, you get into debt. And you make payments on that debt - I'm guessing you're recommending minimum payments (in order to take advantage of inflation), right? Are you accumulating any wealth? Nooo....
If instead you remained debt free, and if you lived below your means (assuming of course you're not like Agnom Mema and make enough to cover your expenses), then you could be accumulating wealth, and use that inflatioon rate to your advantage.
As I posted in my poll response, my family had a 6 month buffer, but within the span of three months both my wife and I were laid off or had our hours significantly cut back, which dipped into the funds. Then, to find ample employment, we had to branch out of our current area, which meant relocating. When all was said and done, our entire buffer was gone and, even though we now live in an area with a lower cost of living, we live paycheck to paycheck and can't afford to replenish our savings.
With that said, let's go down @Bruce-308647's list:
- I'm required to have a smart phone due to my job. Of course, they don't pay me extra for it so I went with the cheapest I could, which was Virgin Mobile USA. Pay up front for the phone, then $35 a month for unlimited data and messaging with 300 minutes. Sure beats paying three times that much for a "contract" plan.
- I usually hold on to my smart phones for 3+ years. I will admit I decided, recently, to bite the bullet and buy the recently released HTC Evo on Virgin Mobile because it's a more up to date phone with the latest Android OS - that way I can guarantee I'll have it for at least 3 years.
- I haven't seen a new movie in the theaters since.. uh.. whenever the hell Lord of the Rings: Return of the King came out. That was, quite seriously, the last time I set foot in a movie theater. I would love to go see Prometheus or Brave, but at $11.25 per ticket, it's simply not cost effective entertainment.
- Convenience store? Hell no, I was taught how to brown bag it, and how to plan brown bag lunch and snacks as part of the meal budget.
- Lottery tickets: I'm too pragmatic to pay the hope tax on the poor.
- Fast food: I have fast food once a week. Generally, on payday. I don't know how people can eat fast food every day, even once a week gets bland after a while.
- Cigarettes: Admittedly, I just quit smoking two months ago so, up until April, I was guilty of this.
- Cable TV: I don't understand this argument. Yes, many TV packages are outrageously expensive, but if people comparison shop, there's no reason people shouldn't be able to afford TV/Internet and stay above water. Hell, I'm only paying $99 a month ($107.26 after taxes) for FiOS and I'm locked into that rate for 2 years. Sounds like a lot, but I know people over on Cox Communications paying three times that much per month.
The issue, really, isn't the list. Yes, people are spending frivolously and then complaining about being poor and I agree that's a problem. But how many of those very people were never taught how to budget or track expenses? I budget meticulously - almost to a fault - because I like to know where the money is coming from and where it's going. Unfortunately this simple life skill isn't taught in schools anymore.
Which means you are probably going to freeload off your parents for the 50 years it would take to save up the cash to buy a house, and another 10 years for the cash to buy a good car.
There is a certain amount of debt that you might as well just go saddle yourself with... It is the reality of the system and unless your parents are very tolerable and don't have a problem with you contributing nothing your entire life, living without any debt is not very likely for gen x/gen y as they will never accumulate enough income to start a family, get a home, and retire on cash.
Its a straw man argument they make, they have been brainwashed to believe someone making $25,000 shouldn't have any of the comforts of the modern life, and that not having these $100 a month bills would somehow create the extra $20,000 a year they would need to suddenly become what they consider a worthwhile human being.
What most people mean about debt free is consumer debt which mortgage is out and so is student loans. most people think that the longest you want a mortgage is 15-20 term but liberals think 30-50 term mortgages are the best. Student loans are a two edged sward if you pull out more than you first year of estimated work pay you will be in trouble.
Now The first car I bought was $2,500 in 2004 I did not need a car loan Why would you need to live in you parents basement?
How about this. When Me and my wife were married we had 106K in debt I had 15K tool debt(at 15%) and 23K student loan(2.75% fix and 8.9% variable)the wife had 7K (7.9%)car loan and 56K (9%)ex-husband student loan debt. we paid this off in 3 1/2 years Do you think we should just pay the minimum payment of 1500+ a month for the next 10-20 years? or be cash free saving 3-4K a month for a house? Think about It we could have bought a house already free and clear!!!
knightofdespair: "Which means you are probably going to freeload off your parents for the 50 years it would take to save up the cash to buy a house, and another 10 years for the cash to buy a good car."
18 years ago I was $38K in debt. Since then, I paid off my debts and accumulated wealth. And no, I didn't go back tomy parents. Bought a house - with 30% down; paid it off completely in 13 years. Paid cash for a brand new truck. Twice. You too can do this. But you have to quit whining and commit to getting out from behind the 8-ball.
18 years ago jobs paid a living wage, try doing it now straight out of school at 18 when 25% of people WANTING a job can't get one, and of those who do, 90% will get less than $12/hr. The entire point of this article is that people just starting out do not make enough to EVER afford housing or education without either financing 10 years wages or living with mommy and daddy and saving up for 50 years.
Jesus Christ man, what is wrong with you. I sometimes get the impression you are smart and then you toss out a stinker like " liberals think 30-50 term mortgages are the best", what a crock - 'liberals' think that people should be able to get into a home, BANKS think a 30-50 year mortgage is best because they make back 5x the borrowed amount. 'liberals' try to inject some rational limits on the greed and oppressive nature of capitalism which otherwise leaves 30% of people priced out of renting or buying forever, which is destructive to our society.
Been married 16 years... and we've been scraping by the entire time. You get used to it after a while. But if we do have savings, it's not enough to "cover bills" for any length of time -- it's enough to cover a single, unexpected expense like car repair or dental work.
Things are picking up though, my wife is getting a nice raise at work, and we should be able to save $500/month.
I am the other extreme. Everything is paid off including the farm, we have 3 years worth of food, cleaning supplies, tp etc. Cloth for clothes, ammo, medical supplies, homeschooling supplies, propane, firewood and a solar power system, cow for milk, chickens for eggs plus meat from both, garden and greenhouse, LOTS of dog food (I breed English Mastiffs so I have to feed 6 dogs all weighing between 200 and 300 pounds and 2 great Pyrs who weigh over 100lbs each plus their offspring and that takes a lot of dog food)... the works plus a significant supply of cash and alternate investments in case the dollar drops in value.
How did we get there... we cut expenses, worked harder than we had to and did without luxuries. Every bit you put back is that much closer to the goals you set. Most people who do these things do not talk about it for fear of being made fun of or robbed. I don't care if people think I am nuts - I don't worry about bills like they do. As for robbery... might cut my dog food bills if someone tried it - lol.
I like how "ammo" is just slipped into your list, and close to the top.
PJ gets the last laugh when WWIII happens.
Randy -
Comes the apocalypse you're going to want some ammunition.
Come the apocalypse, no matter how much ammo you have, it's going to be running out pretty quick.
No replacement ammo being manufactured, no replacement gun parts, no oil and cleaning kits... if you have to user them with any kind of frequency, you're going to run into trouble.
Fairly few people have the experience and know-how to make their own ammunition without anyplace to order supplies, or how to use a precision machine shop to manufacture new parts. If you want to be indispensable in the post-apocalyptic dystopia, those are the skills to learn. Your local warlord will want to keep you alive as a precious resource. Plus he won't want to put you on the front lines as cannon fodder against the warlord next door.
You're in denial if your apocalypse plans stop with sitting in a fortified house with supply stockpiles. One lucky attack could kill one or more of your very limited number of family members. First attacker who tries out an explosive or gas attack ends the "hunker down with guns" plan pretty fast.
I have reloading equipment for the calibers I need, plenty of primers, lead and powder. :)
I'm in the middle been married 32yrs everythings paid for we don't buy new cars, only pay cash for what we do buy. Have a fairly decent savings a couple of what used to be sizeble 401s. Getting up in age but not ready to retire. But our downfall is we like to travel maybe a little to much. OOPS! Oh I forgot to mention no credit cards.
Yep. Us too. And we have lived modestly for many years. You are right. In some circles we would be considered rich. But it has been because of much hard work and a clear saving plan. It has been a struggle. But it has been worth it. I think that may be the issue. Younger people seem to want the best NOW, instead of working for it down the road. I tell this to my 28 and 30 year olds all the time. We did not get here over night!
IWonder-932455
You better have enough to keep an army supplied with ammunition for at least two years..... But cases break, blow up, and corrode; primers do not remain "good" forever; if you do not cast your own bullets, you will run out; and unless you're using black powder -- and are able to make more, you'll have problems getting more powder.
SRScott
Yep, same here -- but lack of jobs, even IF this 50-year-old with medical/physical problems could get hired full-time permanent, means living modestly really ain't enough. Try going with new clothes for more than five years; without a decent, reliable vehicle for more than three years; without any kind of health insurance for more than 15 years (yes, I "qualify" for VA medical assistance -- but I still have to pay at least 1/3 of that cost myself). It took me more than 10 years of working to save up just under $40,000 -- and it took less than 5 years of unemployment and part-time temporary jobs to wipe it all out.
Same here. Worked hard, saved, invested, and lived within our means. Retired at 55 with good portfolio. Land, solar power, plenty of powder, reload machine, and most importantly a community of like minded people who are all stocking up means we are in great shape.
If Armageddon DOES come, I want to be at Ground Zero when it happens. That way I'll be instantly vaporized into a shadow on the walls like I saw in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Because AFTER Armageddon, to quote Nikita Krushchev,
"The Living will Envy the Dead."
You survivalists are so funny. Who wants to live in a world with that kind of out come? You hide in your home and shoot first ask questions later? I would rather die. Ground Zero here I come.
Mo and Ismael you are missing the point. For many people out there the S is already hitting the fan. Why your sort thinks we are all waiting for a nuke to hit the next town amazes me.
Right now my hubby has brain cancer and my sons are in the military so I am hard pressed for time and our income isn't what it would have been before he became sick. There are big medical bill even after insurance. He is terminal. According to the docs he will get sicker and sicker for about a year then I will lose him. Having my preps allows me to stay home with him so he doesn't end his days in a nursing home. When he goes I will still have the farm and businesses because we planned ahead years ago. If things were not paid off I do not know what would happen to our little girl and I. As is I she will go to college and not carry a student loan to do it. To my husband and I that is worth the price we paid to prepare.
Up above you will see a post from a guy who is 5 years out from unemployment and he is hurting BUT where would he have been 4 1/2 years ago if he hadn't been putting stuff back before it happened.
I am not discounting the possibility of a war resulting us all glowing in the dark but it seems to me a lot of people would like to be me the day their unemployment runs out.
BTW Mo go on thinking we are funny. We as a group tend to think your type is pretty weak and lame.
PJ, I understand the pain you are going through, my mother had cancer and died almost two years ago. But try paying for everything you have to pay for when your income is less than $20,000 a year. Try spending ONLY $12,000 a year -- which is my income for last year.
Yeah, I planned ahead for my retirement, and now I don't get to retire until I'm at least 80.
Just saying. Sitting in your house with guns will do absolutely nothing to actually protect you if all hell breaks loose.
You are doing nothing more than purchasing a false sense of security.
A concerted attack from people more desperate than you will break through any home-based defense. Something as simple as a ladder against your wall in a place where you can't shoot from a window could finish you. A vehicle can break down almost any barricade you have set up.
Unless you're in an actual military-grade bunker, you have virtually NO protection.
And if you ARE in a bunker, a few explosives will still crack you open.
Any plan that involves you fortifying in one place is a bad plan. Everybody around you has as much time as they want to figure out how to get in -- and they WILL figure out a way. They have nothing but time, and you're not going anywhere.
When they attack, they might lose 20 or 30 people for every one of yours. Assuming one large attack a month, how long before you run out of people?
Your best bet is to join a larger group, of at least a few dozen people, all working together for mutual survival. Even so, the groups will be fighting each other. You will need to constantly recruit replacements, or absorb smaller groups, to replace losses. Everybody's life expectancy will be much shorter.
pj. the guy you're referring to is me.
Well, at least food wouldn't be a problem...
I love how the majority of people voting in the poll make it clear that they only vote what they wish was true, rather than what is true.
Its tough for people to have a much money with all the taxes we have to pay.
Common man, you show your lack of knowledge with that comment. Taxes take a historically low percentage of American incomes. Previous generations had a far worse tax bite.
Use Google before you post.
Don't worry; your taxes will go down once you're making $500,000 a year.
boom, yes the federal haul is down but all the other taxes state, county, local and hidden taxes take a greater chunk. Get a little life experience before you post next time. Just ask your parents.
boom, keep believing the liberal lie about taxes. Previous generations had tons of loopholes that kept them from having to pay the "high" tax rates that liberals claim they had to pay.
Yep, sales tax is the leech that is weakening us.
WHy wait? 80% of America pays less than 15% income taxes to the Government. We made 91K and paid 6.13% should we of paid 4 or 2%?
Blame the state.
Take your own advice. Better yet, don't ask your clueless parents -- learn. Rather than rely on your own baseless assumptions, do some research.
Liberal lie. You would be funny if it were not sad how uninformed you are. Do some reading about taxes. You'll find that the poor and middle class have more options to lower their taxes now than they ever have.
The only lie here is that you have the ability to think. You are a sheep.
Forgive me for pointing out a frighteningly obvious fact but if your wages increase and bump you into a new tax bracket then you are stuck with those payments you wished on others. As we keep printing our way out of debts and contractual obligations like social security, pensions etc you could basically be getting paid more in dollars thus paying higher taxes but still have less earning power on the dollar. This money printing binge the Fed is on is the biggest idiot tax on the planet and we are all the idiots. At some point if they keep it up you are going to have poor people in the highest tax brackets. Laugh at me now if you want but it won't seem that funny in a few years.
Who are you replying to? I don't see anyone here wishing high taxes on others. Is your comment a copy/paste job?
boom, you're full of it. I have read on taxes unlike you that is just running his mouth. Its obivious that you don't know @!$%# because of all your name calling.
The top tax rate in 1945 was 94%. In 2011, it was 35%.
Real Life Man
Really.... my total tax rate is more than 20% of my total income. Warren Buffet's total tax rate is less than 15% of his total income. How is this a "liberal lie"?
sam adams
And in 1945 the U.S. was just getting done with a huge war.... Think about it.
Sam...read again. The tax rate may have been 94% but there were so MANY deduction that nobody came close to paying those rates. Are you so ignorant to believe that people will work for .06 cents on every dollar they make.
Agnon, don't even try to argue. Anyone that throws the Buffet BS out there doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground but I'll explain it to you. Buffets 15% tax rate is on his "Capital Gains" that is income from stock. He doesn't mention how much his company pays does he-mainly because of people like you that have no clue what capital gains are. You and Sam are poorly informed but I guess thats why you think Obama is the savior.
And they didn't jack up the tax rates to pay for the war.
Anyone making over $33,951 annually ($67,901 jointly) is paying 25% base less the deductions. I don't have children or anything else to deduct, so I basically work as a slave to the state from Jan 1 to Mar 31. Then I get my real estate tax and it's over $4,000. That's another 8.8% if you just make $33,951. THEN I pay taxes on almost all of my purchases of around 8 3/4%.
That's 25% + 8.8% + 3.75% = 37.55%. A full 4 1/2 months of my salary or, basically working from new years day right up to Apr 15 (ironic day, huh?), for free. Yet, liberals think I don't pay enough in taxes.
I ended up paying double in taxes what I did for my mortgage last year. I could have bought 3 homes and had 2 being rented out for my own real-estate business (including hiring a few people to help maintain it).
Boom Reason. Do you really believe everything you read? Lets look at your water bill, the phone bill, the Electric bill. Add up all the taxes and tell me thats 17 percent. Oh wait I bet you don't even count City LID's like we have here for everything from the roads we pay taxes for and the water and sewer we are taxed on. How bout the double dipping on taxing Social Security income which was taken out of our pay as taxes and irregardless of the fact that we will never get back what we put in they tax it as income. Grow up. Take off your rose colored glasses.
Real Life Man;
Try keeping it about TOTAL INCOME, not portions of income that happen to be covered by some kind of loophole. Now, try living on less than 80% of $12,000 a year. And before you decide to mention refunds, they do NOT help pay the monthly expenses that are due EVERY month.
I am so tired of people who take home more than $60,000 a year complaining about how hard it is to pay the bills.
Real Life Man
I didn't say they were. I said THINK ABOUT IT.
Allen-968499
$4,000 a year property taxes? Maybe you should sell that McMansion and move into a smaller house on a smaller piece of land. Try living off $12,000 a year -- BEFORE taxes.
Once again Agnon-you bring up Buffett's tax and your tax. Just admit you don't know what your talking about or at least capital gains. If you want to add up Buffets total tax on his income it comes in around 22-25 Million dollars he has to ante up on his tax bill . You don't have an argument, so you try and twist what you first said. Pitiful. And by some of your other post its evident that your down on your luck and want a handout or at least someone to take what others have worked for and give it to you. No use arguing with someone like you that has a reason to want the govt. to rip off others for you.
"Real Life Man" is clearly just a troll. Therefore, he will be ignored.
Based on what you said, I can deduct that you spend around $13,000 per year on your mortgage. Like another has said, you bit off more than you could chew because you were gullible and bought into the "American Dream" lie where every person should own a home, and you bought a home way too expensive for your means. Cry me a river about your expenses when you don't even know how to balance your budget. You drank the real estate Kool Aid, and now you are paying for your mistakes.
You are part of the reason why the housing bubble crashed. You bought into the hype. Sell your house and quit complaining about how hard you have it. Rent or buy something within your means. That's the hardest part for people like you with entitlement issues.
Clearly you are illiterate because we're talking about taxes. Why don't we just factor in your car payment, the cost of your TV, computer, and everything else you buy? You're just another person who shows up with an erroneous, off-topic argument.
Real Life man, I ain't talking about dollar amounts -- I'm talking about PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL INCOME. When someone has a TOTAL INCOME of over $100 Million, they can afford to pay 20% of that TOTAL INCOME in taxes.
Now, please try to justify why one kind of INCOME should be taxed, while another kind of INCOME should not.
Once again you change your story. Just admit you don't have an idea about what you first posted about.
Boom-KMA You can ignore me because your full of @!$%#
Did our best to get thru college with minimal debt. When we were DINK's, we saved my salary, and lived off his. Made the stay-at-home mom thing easier. After the kids were all in school, and I went back to work and we do the same thing... live off his, save mine.
Good job, Topic...it takes discipline and the ability to say 'no' - both of which I lack....but I'm impressed by those that have it, again, good job! :o)
You can develop these anytime you desire...
Must be wonderful to have an income that HUGE.....
On the other side of the coin, my sister and her husband both work -- and they BOTH HAVE TO WORK TO PAY THE MORTGAGE, ELECTRIC, PHONE, FOOD, MEDICAL, ETC, ETC. There is no option of one of them putting all their income into savings.
BTW, their house is not very large, built more than 50 years ago. Ceilings less than 8 feet high with the kitchen just big enough to hold the 'fridge, stove and sink/counter. Basement used to be the root cellar, and they use wood to heat during winter. They keep chickens for eggs, too. It ain't a McMansion like y'all probably have.
Yes, great job! Make sure you educate yourself on investing. Once inflation hits, the market will be one of the few safe havens for assets.
"Once inflation hits"? Valhalla, inflation hit a long, long time ago. Enjoy that wealth now -- because it can disappear in a heartbeat at any time. MILLIONS of unemployed U.S. Citizens are proof of that.
Every time we save a small chunk of money for a rainy day, something comes up (someone has to visit the doctor, water treatment system burns out, car needs x y z done to it...)
If anything, most people are in the negative because of credit card debt.
That's the problem: credit card debt. You'd be surprised how eas it is to begin collecting wealth once you've gotten rid of that and pay as you go.
What the hell are credit cards? I sure do NOT have -- much less use -- credit cards. Yet I am "somehow" unable to amass those great amounts of wealth while working the few part-time temporary jobs that are all that are available to a 50-year-old with medical/physical problems.........
Your one-size-fits-all economic solution is full of H.M.S. Titanic-size holes.
Definitely! If you can't pay them off every month, cut them up.
Wow, some of you really don't get it. 4 years ago the economy tanked. In our case, my husband and I both lost our jobs at different companies in the same week - his position was eliminated, my department was let go. We cut everything back to the basics immediately. Lost the house (was only $850 a month - no mansion here!). Went through $40k in savings (enough for more than a year). Lost a car. Relocated to a "better" area that hasn't been. Our living expenses are maybe half of what they had been. I laugh at the idea of identity theft - if anyone can get a credit card in our name with our situation they deserve some kind of award! Right now my husband has finally landed his first permenant position in 4 years after a lot of contract jobs. Requires a degree and 10 yrs experience plus security clearance for the priviledge of making $12.50 an hour. With 2 degrees and 20+ years experience I can't get anything beyond contract. My last one was a 3yr position that ended after 3 months because of redistribution of company funds. Today I just found out that we make SO much money, we now are expected to pay over $200 a month for Medicaid. Yeah, credit cards are of course the problem that's keeping people poor.
why are people against credit cards ? I have a hammer in my tool box, don't use it every week. I have a chain saw, don't use it even month. I have a vehicle capable of going over 100 mph - don't use it that way. So a credit card is just a tool. Use wisely - or be an idiot.
I use my credit card every day - buy groceries, gas, you name it. It's a free short term loan. The trick is to pay off the balance each month so you pay no interest.
Gumps
A "free short term loan"... Yeah, right. Sure it is. Oh, and "pay off the balance every month"? So easy to do when you don't need that credit card to begin with.
Agnon, I wouldn't expect you to understand, but I'll explain anyway. Back in 1999 - 2004, my wife and I had a money market account with BofA, tied to our checking account. We had a substantial amount of money there, and we got interest of around 2%. Now that may not seem like much, but 2% of, say, $80K is $1600/yr.
So by using a credit card, I don't have to take any money out of my account when I buy stuff, like gas/groceries... At the end of the month, I got the credit card statement and even then I had a few weeks before I had to pay. So, money was in the money market account during that time, and it wasn't until a couple days before the payement was due when I paid - that's where I meant a free short term loan.
And you're right - I don't "need" a card. But when you have a card that gives you cash back, and it's 2 - 5% (depending on what purchases you make), you get extra cash back (that's tax free). But you wouldn't know about things like airline miles rewards (BTW, I'm up in Seattle - flew from Austin, on free Southwest tickets), or cash back things, would you? Afterall, you're living on less than $15K/year and don't have credit cards.
The privately owned Federal Reserve banking cartel and their corrupt minions, the Washington Establishment, are still trying to obtain their goal of 99% of the people having NOTHING but Masters.
And the people will go willingly because they believe they will be taken care of merely because they are being told they will be taken care of. Once 90% or more of the population are dependent on others the hard reality will come out - We're going to be like Rio. An enclave of super rich behind a wall, with masses in abject poverty outside the wall as far as the eye can see. The only poor folks with jobs are the ones it takes to change the linens and cook meals for the rich. The rest of you can just die as you are not needed.
Well, why didn't you finish your right wing rant by adding a little comment about illegals taking away jobs? Oh, and blaming Obama for everytrhing under the sun - and even the sun itself? It must be Obama's fault that it's so hot, right? Of course, RIGHT.
Gumps; I see why you are a gump. Nobody used the word "Obama" in the thread you responded to.
IReadyou, you're right - you didn't mention Obama, which surprised me given your typical right wing rant.
yeah, well... if nobody used the term, then they didn't use the term. So when you go off on an ASSumption, you know what that makes you ? refer to the ' rhyme about assuming things for your answer.
I own my homes and make a low six figure income. My wife is handicapped and about 4 years from Being able to collect SS. We have 2 annuities which will mature next year and give us 800k to re invest for short and longer term paybacks. I plan on working 3 more years then its off to Florida for good. Since our Detroit home is not worth what it used to be, we are thinking we may lease it to a family in need. I recently gave two late model vehicles to families in need, my wife and I think if we make a good choice of families we could make some one else's life better. It looks like we should be able to maintain our life style on about $4k per month and we look to have between $5 and $8K per month without having to work, but I do plan on part time work in some non pressure type of work....i.e. Home Depot or a golf course.
Florida? How cliche.
You own your HOMES and have a SIX-FIGURE income...... That alone tells me that you do not actually need Social Security when you retire.
4K a MONTH to live on? Hell, that is 1/4 of my TOTAL income for last year. Please, don't bother to complain about how rough it is for you.
Jolly, looking to adopt?
I do wish every congressman would be forced to live in Washington DC on the average income of wage earners in the USA. And not one penny more. You can bet your backside that will accomplish a couple of things right away;
1. The spoiled little 1%er's in congress would resign because they would not be able to afford hot and cold running butlers and maids - only $10 whores ones a month.
2. Those with intelligence would see just how hard it is for the 99%er's to make ends meet and fix the problems.
One can only hope so please don't rant.
You can rant, but others can't? You're a hypocrite.
Sorry. How do you force someone to live on an average worker's wage? These people are all independently wealthy, and they'd find some way to funnel their personal money in somehow.
After all, they are the elite. Just ask them.
Sorry. Double post.
This is actually a good point. Show me a Congressman who isn't a multimillionaire, and I'll show you a new Congressman. It's no wonder the problems never get fixed. Those who can fix them are completely out of touch with reality.
Part of the problem is that people believe that government can fix the problems. They created the problems.
Our government elete should be jumping up and down they arn't going to have to cover up their under paid house staff any longer, in fact they may even hire a few more at $4 an hour, I hear there's going to be about 800,000 on the market.
No, the elite are jumping up and down because you can't spell. You are a symptom of the problem - no marketable skills.
Gumps
So a fella gotta be an Einstein ta be wurth employin' and PAYING A DECENT WAGE? Well, hell's bells, no wunder summun who bin workin' hard all his life cain't git ahead -- he ain't got no "marketable skills".
Bubba, I seen worse spellin' an' grammer from COLLEGE GRADUATES WITH MASTERS' DEGREES. "Marketable skills" my argle-bargle.
Last fall several congressmen were complaining about how tough it was to live on their salary. Now, I do understand that they have the additional expenses of living arrangements while they're in DC. However, after the normal tax rate these people are complaining because they can't life comfortably on $10,000 per month!! Excuse me for not crying them a river!
Americans have capital available if they're out of work: several credit cards in their wallets. A German teaching in America has a candid webpage about the differences between Germans and Americans. He says that when Germans are told Americans lose their health insurance when they lose their jobs and their unemployment checks are very small, yet they don't save for it, the German's say, "How can people live like that?"
I think it comes down to optimism, foolishness, and an inability to defer gratification. When I was working, I reached a point where I saved 15% of my income - but it all went into retirement accounts, mutual funds, and stocks. I kept little in the bank. I assumed if I was ever out of work, it wouldn't be for long. One year, an incredible deal to spend two weeks of tours in Egypt and Israel for $4000/person including flights, meals, Nile Cruise, Ramses Hilton, hotels, all side-tours, etc. appeared and I put it on a credit card and paid it off over several months.
Admittedly, I could tap into those security accounts if my bank account ran dry and I imagine that's true of the 50% that have no or less than three months savings. Of course, then there's capital gains taxes or penalties on retirement accounts and it's better to carry credit on a credit card for a short period.
But for those who claim they have no savings at all, despite jobs, yet they can spend $25/week on beer and soda and $50/month on cable TV tells me there's $2000/year they could have in the bank. Learn to love water or lemonade mixes and get rabbit ears. When I've been in tight times that's what I did.
I think it comes down to optimism, foolishness, and an inability to defer gratification.
Frankly, I think you hit the nail on the head with this. Especially that last part. Don't get me wrong, I understand there is a large number of people who honestly can barely scrape by and even a lot who can't do that. But I think most people who fall into financial trouble are those who think they can't live without something that in reality they can. I've been the same way myself. Sometimes you HAVE to think "Do I/we really need that or do I/we just want it?". I think the most deadly financial comment ever is "It's only a couple of dollars a month. Surely I can't dig that up somewhere." If you have to ask yourself that question before you buy something then you had better be damn sure you can't live without it.
Sometimes I'm amazed at what people "need". The latest smartphone with an unlimited data and voice plan. That $20,000 car won't do they "need" that $45,000 car. Big houses with large yards and then they "need" all the hardware to take care of it. It's not uncommon for a major purchase to snowball on you too. I think most people don't account for the snowball effect when they plan a major purchase. I know I didn't think of it when I bought my 1st. house.
I got myself into huge debt once and it took me about 12 years to dig my way out of it. It's easy to fall in over your head and a lot harder to dig your way back out then people realize.
Funny how it all comes back to the same thing doesn't it? Work hard, save, invest, and live within your means.
Just about everyone posting here who is in good shape has followed the above steps to the American dream. Hopefully others will learn.
Funny how it all comes back to the same thing: Some people are just plain lucky that they have not (yet) been fired or "downsized" out of a job.
Super easy to save when you have a $60,000+ income, but try saving when your income is less than $15,000 -- even without credit cards.
Okay Agnon Mema - if you're income is less than $15K/yr then perhaps you should go out and find a better paying job. Or go to school and get some training in order to get a better job. Either way, it's better than sitting around reading and responding to posts...
Oh, and practice your spelling...
Gumps, are you going to pay for that schoolin' I need to get a "better paying job"? No? Then don't be tellin' me that I should get the schoolin'. FYI, I had a "better paying job" -- it was "downsized". Now I have to work PART-TIME TEMPORARY jobs to pay the bills, which is why my income last year was only $12,000. Learn to read, Gumps.
Speaking of "better paying jobs".... Are YOU going to hire a 50-year-old with medical and physical problems when you know those problems are going to slow that 50-year-old down on the job? You are? Well, how much ya gonna pay me, then? It gotta be more than $20 an hour, 'cause thet's whut yer gettin'........
BTW, my spellin' iz jist fine. Mebbe it be yer readin' whut needs improvin'.
p.s., how is it that YOU can be posting comments here all day, instead of WORKING? Y'all can't be worth much of anything if yer just sittin' around all day postin' comments on the interwebs.......
How is it that I'm posting all day without working? Simple. I don't need to. Small pension, dividend income as well as cash savings. House is paid for; ditto for my truck and my wife's car. In a few months I'll sign up for Social Security and another small pension. You had to ask, didn't you?
My brother did it and finished school (from age 29-33) He had to save enough to move over a thousand miles so he can be a Vic Principle at a school at just two months out of school. He even stopped smoking pot and he over came two DUI's and landed this job out of school.
Let me tell you people about my history.
I was diagnosed with Autism 3 times when I was a child I was undiagnosed three times. I didn't talk until I was 4 years old. I was a very very angry child the child care centers would stuff MM,Kleenex, and other things down my throat to stop my crying. I was even left in the garage by one. I was suspended the first day of school. By third grade I was expelled the final straw was diss obeying instructions on "spelling the best you can" during journal writing. I asked how to spell "who" and they made me call my parents and they gave them three options explosion for the rest of my life, military school, or the Genesis program. My parents took the latter.
I was always behind on my spelling and reading I graduated high school with a third grade level in reading and spelling(but my comprehension was a sophomore in collage level). I went on a church mission for two years It was during the two years I learned how to read. I have since read over 600 books. the spelling is a lot more difficult but with time I will get better. I have put my self through Automotive school at Universal Technical Institute received a 4.0 with a 100% attendance. was accepted into the Audi Academy program Left the program mastered my job spending 2-3 hours studying every day and can now get a job any where in the country with no difficulties in only hours I have meet my wife and were married 6 months latter have two girls and we talk about our family and work it out. Marriage is the easiest thing but it is also the most difficult thing at the same time.
What is your excuse life is not fair but you live with it and work past it. Life it is not about how you fall but what you do when your down.
STOP MAKING EXCUSES AND WORK!
Sure, I have a few months salary to spend...if I close my 401k. Hasn't earned much since I started it. Losses losses losses. It's more like a small demon that eats a certain percentage of the money I put it in it. Then if I try to take the money away from him, he takes a huge bite.
Worse than a slot machine!
Z, then you need to live below your means. You should be able to put some $$ aside each month into savings/investments. When my wife and I were both working, we paid more towards the mortgage AND we saved aggressively. We paid off our house within 13 years, we've paid cash for our vehicles. You can do this too.
A lot of people don't realize, depending on the size of your mortgage, if you pay fifty to a hundred extra each month it goes on the end and can cut a 30yr down to 15 or 20yr. Depending on how your mortgage is set up that is.
Yes, it all comes down to making money work for you or against you. Debt makes money work against you. Saving and investing makes money work for you.
Hey Valhalla, try saving and investing when your income is less than $15,000 a year. Hell, try living off less than $15,000 a year.
I'm betting that you won't be able to do it.
I would have more money if my house didn't lose 20% of it's value. Or I didn't blow my savings on paying off my ex's debt. Ah, the stupid things we do for women. Lessen learned...the hard way.
Life sucks get over yourself you can survive on it but you cant live on it. that is life don't like it do something about it.
This is because of OBAMA'S FAILED ECONOMIC POLICIES!! Most EVERY middle class family in this country has lost approximately 40% of their life savings and/or equity in their homes thanks to OBAMA!! This sick, twisted individual needs to be FIRED in NOVEMBER! Anyone But Obama.....PLEASE! This country cannot stand another four year term of this SOCIALIST/MARXIST!!
The assault on the Middle Class started long before Obama was elected POTUS! It's been continued for the length of human history. The richer, more powerful have never been satisfied with their wealth or power and so look to the weaker to take more from. It is NOT Obama's fault that people are people!
The blame for this situation right now is squarely on the shoulders of the RW and their policies of the more wars the better, Corp Personhood trumps real people personhood, Wall Street worship, love of greed and abuse in the pusuit of more and more power. The lack of recovery is being manipulated by the Repugs and done with malice toward the "Middle Class" so they can swing them to vote against their best interests by having blame the man in the WH rather than the real culprits and allow them to finish us off once and for all.
Dixie, you say its not Obama's fault but the Republicans??? What is it that you want the government to do for you-take from those that have and give to you or just take care of you?
TomKat, give it a rest. You obviously have a short memory and are blinded by your right wing lunacy.
Don't feed the troll. They feed on your outrage.
Really? I'm still waiting for REAGAN'S "trickle-down" policies to make me rich..... Actually, I'm not waiting, 'cause that boat was designed from the get-go to benefit ONLY the rich.
The U. S. government should NOT be making people rich!! Period! I want LESS government in my life. I want to decide what to eat, what and how to drink, and keep MORE of MY money (less taxes) that I WORKED hard for to spend on MY family....not every ILLEGAL ALIEN in this city!!! People need to learn how to take hard earned money they collect in taxes.
Gumps - why are people who believe in LESS GOVERNMENT lunatics?? I want Uncle Sam to keep his nose out of MY wallet. Why should MY hard earned money go to taxes to help people who have NO DESIRE to get off their own AS$ and help THEMSELVES!! LESS government and LESS regulation. Let people fend for themselves and get help from THEIR families or local church!! Stop depending on MY money!!
Did I say that all people who believe in less government are lunatics? No. But people like you, who want to blame everything bad under the sun, including their circumstances, created by their own poor decisions, are candidates for the looney bin.
Hey, Tomkat -- there ain't nobody in Government keeping you from eating/drinking/thinking what you want. Taxes? You probably pay less in PERCENTAGE of total income than I do, and you DEFINITELY get to keep more actual dollars than many others, so kwityerbichin.
As for those "illegal aliens" -- are they from Alpha Centauri or the Kuiper Belt? Them Centaurians just do not like to obey intergalactic laws.......
Tomkat372
Are you a Christian, Tomkat? Or are you just another "Sunday Christian" who merely pays lip-service to the Commandments and Teachings of Jesus?
How can I save anything when it takes everything I have just to survive?
Well, you're making a comment here, so that means you have internet access and some sort of computing device. This suggests to me that you're not at the level where you're just surviving.
Sell your car, and buy one that you can actually afford. If you feel like you are in a bind, you don't need a car that is valued at more than $2,000.
You sound like my uncle -- has a Mercedes, a $30,000 motorcycle, just bought my mother a new Lexus SUV, has the latest electronics and gadgets, and complains that he doesn't have money due to a $30,000 cut in his take-home pay.
On the other hand, I have well more than his wage cut in savings because I don't change cars every other year.
In case you're unaware, most public libraries have free internet access. And in any case, a cheap computer for internet connectivity can be had for less than $200, with basic internet service fro aboyt $20/month.
And before you say that cell phones and internet are a luxury, keep in mind it's almost impossible to find a job without internet access. Or a car.
My wife doesn't drive, and she's finding it impossible to find employment. Found one good possibility at $10/hour, and even had benefits. Problem is it was a 5 and 1/2 hour bus ride each way from our home.
You ask for a solution put your bills and income on here and list where your money is going.
Yo, Severed Head - given that lillypop posted at 8:58AM CDT, it's a safe bet that he/she isn't at the library; if so then perhaps lillypop should be working. And yes, one can get a cheap computer and yes, I know internet access can also be cheap. But my point still stands - sitting around, posting comments on some kind of devices connected to the internet suggests that lillypop isn't exactly on the ropes quit yet.
boom! reason
Hmmm..... Great advice -- when you can afford to follow it. My previous car got junked last year because of the brakes going out, the radiator breaking, the mold in the carpeting from the car being in a flood, the frame rusting out, the windshield being cracked, the motor and transmission both needing an overhaul (if not replacing)......
Yeah, I could have kept that 1994 model car and saved the nearly $6,000 I spent on my current 2005 vehicle, but keeping it would have meant having to spend more than $8,000 to fix it up enough to last another two years -- or just to get it so someone would be willing to spend a few hundred dollars to buy it.
Spending nearly $6,000 on a vehicle I don't have to make major repairs on for another five years wasn't really affordable, either, but it was a whole lot more affordable than keeping that death trap.
Gumps
Yo, Gumps -- given that the interwebs are an INTERNATIONAL thing, it's a safe bet that lillypop's comment was simply posted at 8:58 AM CDT. That would be 9:58 AM EDT, 7:58 AM MDT, 6:58 AM PDT -- and 6:58 PM in Eastern Australia. The point is that you do not really know where lillypop lives, so you have no actual clue as to whether she's using a library computer or not.
Oh, and library computers can be used to look for work -- and many people actually work AT NIGHT.
Yeah, Agnon Mema - we;ve all been entertained by your imagination...
Glad I could entertain y'all, Gumps -- but it don't change the FACT that Central Daylight Time is just one of many time zones around the world. Hey, you posted that last comment at 3:49 PM EDT -- which, according to your reasoning automatically means that you live somewhere on the East Coast of North America................
Say, why aren't you working right now? Quitting time isn't until 5:00 pm.
You have a problem with reading comprehension. I was clearly talking about lowering costs, and fixing a worthless car is obviously not lowering costs. Also, I talked about selling a car, not maintaining a broken one.
Most people don't like to buy used cars, instead paying maybe $14,000+ on a new one when they really should buy a used car of less than half that amount.
This is a website geared toward the American market, with little international penetration. You may get an international visitor here and there, but by and large this is a site dominated by the American consumer.
Additionally, many people browse while at work.
Why don't you answer that first yourself?
Agnon Mema - I'm vacationing in Washington. No, I'm not working. I've been employed and I've been unemployed. Unemployed is better - I get up when I feel like it, read the paper and drink coffee and surf the we at my leisure.
What does anyone expect? With at least 20% of the working population unemployed, or under employed. That doesn't even count those who have finally quit looking for work and took early retirements, or had to fall on welfare.
I think this study shows how big of liars people are. They even lie to themselve when answering anon polls and say they have money saved that they don't. It's a form of self delusion and apparently pretty common. NOT counting credit availibility I doubt if more than 50% have more than a few hundred dollars, not enough for a utility bill, car payment or health insur premium and the 3-6-12 mos savings is a dream not a reality for many of those that report they have it imo. I know very, very few that could go one month without their credit cards AND a paycheck. Take one of those away and they're done!
I lost my job of over 21 years, lost my medical coverage, still paying on medical from before I lost my job and I feed myself on about 30 dollars a week. Car blew up and I can't afford another one and I need to see a doctor but with no medical coverage, I can't go. I will become a statistic. My medical trouble may claim my life, but I have no other choice. Until then, I choose to live my life as happily as I can.
We're in exactly the same situation. I'm sorry for your trouble and hope for better for both of us!
Hmm, I notice that you have internet access. You probably also have a cell phone, wide screen HDTV and all the other useful toys.
These "things" are not necessities.
IWonder, I wonder if you have a secret mind reading ability. Believe it or not there is something called unsecured wi-fi. My friend had free internet for years because his house was next to a Taco Johns. Also a cell phone is not an exorbitant luxury. I pay less for my cell service than a land line. It's $15 bucks a month with free long distance.
I am at a job that I work that pays less money and offers no benefits. No phone and no TV. I also have no air conditioning at my home so when it's hot....I deal with it. I have cut my expenses right down to the neccessities. Only what I need to survive. Thank you for your comment.
Hmm, I notice that you have internet access. You probably also have a cell phone, wide screen HDTV and all the other useful toys. These "things" are not necessities-- Hmmm, IWonder, I wonder why you feel the need to be judgmental towards someone you don't even know other than what this person has wrote. You automatically assume that by someone posting here that he/she isn't telling the truth about their situation. Using the "well if you have internet access to post this, then you MUST have a cell phone, HDTV, etc." line of illogic reasoning shows your lack of character. If this person has a laptop (prior to their situations happening), then they can get WiFi access for free almost anywhere. Heck, even the grocery store down the street from me has WiFi access anyone can use. FOR FREE!!! Remember IWonder, "Judge not lest ye be judged, and cast the first stone."
I also want it clear...I receive NO benefits from welfare, no food stamps no help. If I only have 10 bucks for food...that is all I purchase. I dry my clothes on a clothes line and I have a few pots out the back door growing some produce. I want no pity!! I was just hoping people that are in the same boat as I am know they aren't the only ones. It's tough for many people, not just me. Would gladly sell my home, but rent in my town is more than the mortgage.
I also notice that they did not deny my assumptions! I failed to mention that they have plenty of time to spare with newsvine.
Those things are considered rights in some areas. Here in Detroit its like that all over. The people who dont work all have homes, cars, mobiles. They dont spend money on things like insurances of any kind. You can leave from my home and head in any direction and with in a mile or so you will be asked if you want to sell your food stamps or bridge card for 50% on the dollar. The very same guy also has several types of drugs to sell you also.
Believe it or not, unauthorized access of unsecured wifi is illegal in many places. That wifi is free for customers, not for leeches.
Why not just download movies off the internet because they're free instead of going to the theater or paying for them? Same difference.
When you go in to the ER due to those conditions you are allowing to grow due to your stubbornness to utilize services (medicare, or was it medicaid?) that you have paid into over 21 years, you will costs the taxpayer far more than you would if you did the responsible thing by getting "help."
You are self-defeating.
I had a consulting job I had to make updates to at midnight. The only access I had was pulling into the local coffee shop parking lot and uploading from my car.
I did go in the next day and buy a mocha just to be fair. :<)
boom! reason;
Perhaps she does not "qualify" for Medicaire/Medicaid because she is still able to work and earns more than the "minimum allowable" amount of money. I do not "qualify" for Medicaire/Medicaid because I am not "old enough".
Try paying for medical expenses when you don't have the money AND you don't qualify for the government-funded coverage.
Wow Agnon Mema, it sounds like your life really sucks. All you talk about is how poor you are.
You seem to have a lot of free time.
You are correct. I do not qualify for help and I am not old enough for medicare. I take one day at a time.
The truth is our government and the policies are to blame. The built in inflation they installed insures that every year the money supply expands and the money becomes worth less and less. By allowing the banks to loan out up to 10 times the amount they have in their vaults, they literally are creating/printing money that did not exist. My father bought his home for $10,000. A good, average new car from that time cost between $1,500 to $2,000. He had planned to retire on $2,000 a month and thought he would live well. What does a house today cost? A new car? On $2,000 a month, you qualify for food stamps now. Truth is you will never be able to afford to truly retire unless you're wealthy, and the government is seeing to it that the majority of the population isn't.
Your personal choices are to blame, period.
And I am not sure what this "inflation" talk is all about.
Inflation is at record lows right now.
If you lived in 1979, when it was running 10% or more, you would understand what REAL inflation is all about.
As for retirement, why would someone be BUYING a house after they retire? At that point, you should have your house PAID FOR - and your car.
That is why older people drive cars forever - they are paid for, and they don't drive much - maybe 3,000 to 5,000 miles a year.
No, anyone can retire, really, if they stop blaming the government for their woes and SAVE MONEY.
The $100 a month you are spending on a smart phone or Cable TV, if invested over a lifetime, would be worth over $100,000 at retirement.
This does require that you SAVE and learn that you don't have to have a lot of junk in your life, just because your neighbors do.
RobertPlattBell
Really? So when was the last time you "chose" to be fired, or "chose" to be "downsized", or "chose" to have your job sent overseas? When was the last YOU chose to become unemployed because the CEO of the company worked for decided that he/she needed to have another million dollar bonus?
You either choose to plan for the unfortunate event that you may be fired, or you do not. Most people chose not to plan for it because they stupidly believed that the economy would always be good, and are currently suffering for it.
You, on the other hand, choose to live by blaming others for everything that happens to you. You can't even comprehend what Robert wrote because you are too absorbed in your self-pity.
Since I was old enough to understand what an allowance was, I was taught that for every $1 I got, 15 cents went into my piggy bank. Unfortunately, I was laid off 6 months ago (and, I went to high school when dinosaurs roamed the earth). Fortunately, because of the 15% rule, I've saved and, with any luck, will never have to never have to work again. Never made a 6 figure income in my life.
savings.
Congratulations on being able to stay at the same job long enough to save all that money. Now, if only I could have even that 15% to put into savings..........
Greed kills.
greed?! Hahaa