Do You Have more than $500 Dollars put aside for a rainy day?

hollydolly

hollydolly

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Location
London England
According to this article... the majority of Americans don't have enough saving to cover a $500 dollar unexpected expense..

What do you think as American's...do you know people like this..are you one of them, having worked all your life maybe, and find yourself living week to week? It would appear the young millennials are the ones who are most prepared with savings to fall back on.....

http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/12/pf/americans-lack-of-savings/index.html
 

hmmm. $500.

Gee, hollyholly, thanks for the information. I'll pass on answering your question....not anyone's business.

However, you neglected to mention that one in four UK families have less than £95 ($131 USD) in savings.


Kinda pathetic. :(
Just thought I'd mention that since you're so intent on comparing the US with the UK. :wink:
(btw both our sources are current...2017)

https://www.theguardian.com/society...ies-have-less-than-95-in-savings-report-finds
 

It is sad but not surprising when you add in the fact that 20% of all Americans are on some form of government assistance, food stamps, welfare, etc...

I also think that many people today use a credit card as a rainy day fund and settle up every year when they get an income tax refund or some other sort of windfall.

My older sister explained to me one day that she needs to lease a new car every three years because she can't afford the possibility of an expensive repair bill on a used car.
 
Oh you know what AC I would have put money on that you would have answered that in an ill mannered way...pray tell where I'm intent on comparing the US with the UK... I simply asked a question of the people on here the vast majority who are Americans' and people I consider friends'.. rather than just reading an article and believing it without question.

Pathetic?... ok..if you say so... , but if you have nothing more intelligent to say about the subject then allow others who have , speak ..
 
Aunt Bea thank you ...yes I read that in the article about many people having to rely on credit cards oftentimes.. ..it's the same I'm sure in the UK..I don't have any figures.. I did read some time ago that most people are just one paycheck away from financial disaster.

What's harder to take is that so many people may have worked hard all their life, only to find themselves struggling financially in the winter of their years..
 
Aunt Bea said:
It is sad but not surprising when you add in the fact that 20% of all Americans are on some form of government assistance, food stamps, welfare, etc...

I also think that many people today use a credit card as a rainy day fund and settle up every year when they get an income tax refund or some other sort of windfall.

My older sister explained to me one day that she needs to lease a new car every three years because she can't afford the possibility of an expensive repair bill on a used car.
Click to expand...

That 20% is lower that the 64% of Brits receiving welfare.

​
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"The welfare state is a big part of British family life, with 20.3 million families receiving some kind of benefit (64% of all families),"​


​
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/apr/06/welfare-britain-facts-myths
 
every month there is a new article about how much supposedly americans can't come up with .

know one knows . there is not even a formal census anymore that asks what we all have . it is just done by a small random sampling .

truthfully , who cares what others have or don't have . there are billions made by poorer american's doing all sorts of off the book stuff both legal and not legal .

if more people worried about what they have and not what others have or don't have they would be better off .
 
mathjak107 said:
every month there is a new article about how much supposedly americans can't come up with .

know one knows . there is not even a formal census anymore that asks what we all have . it is just done by a small random sampling .

truthfully , who cares what others have or don't have . there are billions made by poorer american s doing all sorts of off the book stuff
Click to expand...

I care about people who don't have much...I worked until I retired for a charity who provided for those who had nothing, at all..not even a home most of them.. ..but I absolutely agree, yes there are millions in many countries being made poorer by those who pay no taxes and working for cash in hand..
 
hollydolly said:
Aunt Bea thank you ...yes I read that in the article about many people having to rely on credit cards oftentimes.. ..it's the same I'm sure in the UK..I don't have any figures.. I did read some time ago that most people are just one paycheck away from financial disaster.

What's harder to take is that so many people may have worked hard all their life, only to find themselves struggling financially in the winter of their years..
Click to expand...

I'm always curious to learn how people live and approach life. I think that we all have our own personal financial edge that we learn to manage instinctively. Some people feel that a twenty dollar bill tucked in their shoe is enough of a cushion and some feel the need to have several million stashed in an offshore account.
 
Aunt Bea said:
I'm always curious to learn how people live and approach life. I think that we all have our own personal financial edge that we learn to manage instinctively. Some people feel that a twenty dollar bill tucked in their shoe is enough of a cushion and some feel the need to have several million stashed in an offshore account.
Click to expand...

Oh so true... I raised my daughter alone from the time she was 6 years old , trying to juggle several minimum paid part-time jobs around her school hours ...and you're so right, if I had £5 saved I was relieved that I had something to buy a loaf of bread with if I ran out.... To this day I regret wishing her little life away for her to get old enough so I could work full time to bring in a decent wage for the 2 of us..
 
I have much more than $500 available for a rainy day, but my husband and I have made a point of saving during our working years and not buying anything that we couldn't afford to pay for...always made sure a credit card could be paid in full for any purchase, etc.

But, we never had children and were blessed with pretty good health all these years, I know a lot of single parents, those with lots of medical bills and other difficulties in life do live paycheck to paycheck and wouldn't have any extra money set aside for rainy days. I feel bad for those people, it must be very stressful for them. I don't know any personally, I usually never asked friends, coworkers or neighbors about their personal finances. No matter what country, there are many in this world who struggle to get by or live in poverty.
 
I'm in better shape financially than I've ever been. But, Hollydolly, I sure know what you're talking about. There were times in my younger years when I didn't have an extra dime at the end of the week. Back then, fortunately, I didn't have a credit card either.

A very good question, it's important to know where we are compared to others. It might spur some on to save more if they realize they don't have enough.
 
This thread just serves to remind me how well off I am in my retirement. I receive a part government pension and income from my retirement fund. The retirement fund contains money from a long ago investment in a small home unit. On average I am able to save roughly A$500 per month.

We live comfortably but modestly and on the whole other government programs such as universal health care and the pharmaceutical benefits scheme, keep our expenses down. The money I am saving is used for any out of pocket expenses for operations such as joint replacements and unexpected expenses greater than say $1,000.

My disabled grand daughter, living on a disability pension with some extra money from baby sitting work is perpetually living from fortnight to fortnight. She needs help from the Bank of Mum and Grandma fairly often to be able to take her cat to the vet or to fill her car with petrol. IMO families must stick together and support each other when anyone is doing it tough. Those that do have the strength to pass through economic hard times and the disruptions of war. It is families that are the building blocks of any society and governments that recognise this, and support families with helpful programs are wise to do so.
 
I absolutely agree Warrigal... we aren't rich but we are comfortable too..and fortunate that my o/h is still working , since I retired a few months ago...and he has a long time to go yet before retirement if he takes it at all.. .. like you , we don't splash out on unnecessary expensive materialistic things or take hugely expensive holidays , but we do enjoy what we have now..after living hand to mouth for so many years it's something I feel fortunate enough to have been able to have in my senior years and also here in the Uk we're lucky not to have the medical expenses so many others in the USA have as well. ...I worked very hard to get to this position, but like your grand-daughter there are so many people who are in a position where it's just impossible to get where they are on an easier street
 
I never spend money on the lottery RR... despite the fact that ''someone'' has to win it , the chances of it being me are so slim, I would rather just keep the money in my pocket. A £2 ticket is over £100 per year... ... if ever I found myself in a poverty stricken position again..I;ll be glad of that few hundred quid..
 
Here's some data for you:

Total household + nonprofit net worth for Q4 of 2016 was $93,000,000,000,000 (93 trillion). This works out to about almost $300,000 per person. But of course that wealth is concentrated in the upper tiers. The top 5% of families have over 60% of the net worth. (>$3.5 million per person!) Many in the bottom 20% have negative net worth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_in_the_United_States
 
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