I can't disagree, but I will add with all of the Government mandates on employers it's gong to cause a lot more business owners to throw their hands up and walk away from it. At least in my State I think we're hitting the tipping point of where people think that every business has endless cash to pay for health care, time off, FMLA, and on and on.
According to this article only 55% of the American workforce has access to a 401k, and of them, only 38% actually participate. https://www.financialsamurai.com/the-401k-participation-rate/
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Agreed, it really wasn't taught to them in school and their parents never passed it along. The story below says that Mean retirement savings of families between 56 and 61: $163,577 that is a scary number, worse yet the Median retirement savings of families between 56 and 61: $17,000. It used to be that when a couple retired their house was paid off and they were debt free, but you're right that is not the norm anymore. Just more reliance on the Government and a lack of personal responsibility
Wage stagnation explains much of that. Since the Recession of 1969–1970, almost every bit of prosperity (when wage growth exceed inflation) has been countered by decline (when inflation exceeds wage growth).
I don't believe it is that low.
Money saved in a 401k is reflected in the Savings Rate.
Wage stagnation explains much of that. Since the Recession of 1969–1970, almost every bit of prosperity (when wage growth exceed inflation) has been countered by decline (when inflation exceeds wage growth).
So while our economy (and our lives, really) have been structured around this expectation that we're living in a prosperous country - an expectation that would otherwise be reasonable based on data prior to the Recession of 1969–1970 - we spend money like we're living in a prosperous country. What's worse, most of the younger workers grew up in the longest period of prosperity the country experienced since 1969 - the seven years between 1994 and 2001. That has got to foster even more impetus to spend money.
I don't believe it is that low.
Who knows where Marketwatch got their number. Maybe the author read the data wrong? Let's say the savings rate has declined to roughly 6%.
Money saved in a 401k is reflected in the Savings Rate.
I work with many people who pay for more insurance on top of what you just listed. My dear old aunt once cautioned me against being insurance poor when I wondered if I needed renters insurance. Seriously, all my furniture was second hand and nothing was irreplaceable. In the 80s we didn't have all of our electronics or any of that stuff. That bit of advice stuck with me all my life. I don't pay for extra disability insurance, cancer insurance, or any of that other stuff they peddle at my work. I feel like you, the necessary required insurance is plenty and makes me want to gag.
I bought $300.00 worth of used Lego (which resulted in enough boxes to fill the trunk and backseat of my car at the time) in 1998. Sold enough to get my back my $300.00 immediately. Then continued to sell them off, set by set (Which I had to put together first to ensure all of the pieces were there.) until I had paid for our entire wedding with Lego profits. Then I stuck the remaining Lego in a closet for a couple years, and when I was pregnant with our first, I sold what was left to purchase everything we'd need for the baby. Now my kids yell at me for selling off all of that Lego, LOL!Yes! Many people nowadays live sooo differently than the previous generation. My parents had one car and it was 15 years old. They didn't have cellphone plans or $200 cable bills. They didn't take $5000 trips to Disney World, pay for lawn and cleaning services, manicures, massages, $5 cups of coffee or designer purses. They didn't put us kids in expensive camps or extracurriculars and they certainly wouldn't have bought us $100 Legos. They were savers and didn't spend more than they made. I think we can learn a lot from their frugality. So many in this generation want everything everyone else has, but want to complain when they have to pay for it and are living paycheck to paycheck. Incomes are higher now than ever but spending is way above inflation in terms of salary. I don't want to generalize, but I think we've created a generation that can't say no to anything and think they are entitled to everything whether they can afford it or not. There's another thread on these boards about who takes trips they can't afford and that answer would be obvious to previous generations. A lot of this overspending came along with credit cards. In my parents' day if they couldn't afford to pay cash for a vacation or new furniture then they didn't buy it. Anyone remember Christmas and vacation savings clubs at the bank lol? I think this country would be in a lot better shape fiscally if we went back to that mindset even if just a little bit!
I'm not sure how old you are, but my parents had two cars because they were a dual income household with jobs an hour apart from each other. Cell phones are now needed for a lot of jobs. With childcare costs astronomical and dual income households, cell phone plans for older kids are often needed when they need to take themselves to school, friends houses, and after school activities.
