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

nvtribefan said:
Fortunately, many people do care about others who don't have what they need.
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there is a big difference between care and concern .

if you are going to have concern at least have concern over actual facts .

no one really knows what anyone else has . there is nothing in place to know this in the united states . it is all guess work and skewing statistics .

but in any case being overly "concerned" about things you have no control over is a waste of energy . you wan't to give to causes that help great , but there is nothing else you can do except volunteer your time somewhere and that would not be something you do based on skewed statistics
 

Hoot N Annie said:
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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this is meaningless and very poor logic for anything .. when it comes to worth age is a big factor and treating all ages the same and dividing is nonsense .

it is like when they do the old 401k balances and skew it to show few have anything saved . they dilute those who have been savings for decades with new comers , those who have a 401k plan and contribute little , etc . so once you do that it knocks those who contribute way down so it looks like little is saved .

when fidelity looks at those over age 55 and contributing for at least 10 years from 1/2 to max the story is very different and is hundreds of thousands .

skewing statistics is so easy and we can show anything .

there was a ad on tv for impaired driving . they said 40% of all accidents involve drugs or drinking . i said to my wife , see , it is safer to drive stoned . 60% of the accidents are straight people . only 40% are stoned .
 
mathjak107 said:
this is meaningless and very poor logic for anything .. when it comes to worth age is a big factor and treating all ages the same and dividing is nonsense .

it is like when they do the old 401k balances and skew it to show few have anything saved . they dilute those who have been savings for decades with new comers , those who have a 401k plan and contribute little , etc . so once you do that it knocks those who contribute way down so it looks like little is saved .

when fidelity looks at those over age 55 and contributing for at least 10 years from 1/2 to max the story is very different and is hundreds of thousands .

skewing statistics is so easy and we can show anything .

there was a ad on tv for impaired driving . they said 40% of all accidents involve drugs or drinking . i said to my wife , see , it is safer to drive stoned . 60% of the accidents are straight people . only 40% are stoned .
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Have a nice day
 
I don't think my parents had much money, and that has given me with the determination never to be in the position. I admit that sometimes I'm rather reluctant to spend on little 'treats', but my wife points out that we worked hard for what we have and we should be enjoying it. She's not often wrong, but she's right again:)
 
OK here in my home, but I have come in contact with many who aren’t. I call them the poor and under privileged. It sometimes broke my heart when I would be called to a convenience store and receive a complaint that the owner or employee witnessed a child or adult stealing food, not candy or potato chips, but maybe Spam or frozen meals.

I would do my best to talk the complainant out of making a report and was usually successful. It must be a terrrible thing to be so hungry that a good, decent person will try to steal, so they could eat.
 
Oooh you're so right 911. I witnessed it on more occasions than I could count, in my job.... and how kind you were to understand that a human being has the right to eat.. and an otherwise decent law abiding person doesn't need a criminal record because they had a desperate need to satisfy the most basic of human requirements.. thank you...
 
I feel your empathy for those less fortunate Holly. I lived it for awhile myself. But when I was about 25 I decided I'd have to do something to change that. I referred to myself as "Poor Girl" when I was in my 20's. I too wound up raising my son mostly by myself on a low salary. I started with small amounts saved each paycheck (bi-monthly) and have been a saver (and eventually investor) ever since. As the years went on, my finances changed for the better. I have more than enough left over after expenses each month out of my two main sources of income..pension and SS. So yes, I have more than $500 in an emergency fund. :)

I've read so many articles about how Americans don't even have $1,000 saved up as they approach retirement. Some are living paycheck to paycheck, others are spendthrifts and don't think about saving until a crisis happens. I know people in both categories. The ones who could have done better but didn't really regret it.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
I feel your empathy for those less fortunate Holly. I lived it for awhile myself. But when I was about 25 I decided I'd have to do something to change that. I referred to myself as "Poor Girl" when I was in my 20's. I too wound up raising my son mostly by myself on a low salary. I started with small amounts saved each paycheck (bi-monthly) and have been a saver (and eventually investor) ever since. As the years went on, my finances changed for the better. I have more than enough left over after expenses each month out of my two main sources of income..pension and SS. So yes, I have more than $500 in an emergency fund. :)

I've read so many articles about how Americans don't even have $1,000 saved up as they approach retirement. Some are living paycheck to paycheck, others are spendthrifts and don't think about saving until a crisis happens. I know people in both categories. The ones who could have done better but didn't really regret it.
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Thank you OED.... that's precisely the question I was asking after reading the report. I'm sure it's the same in the UK...and it's a huge concern for all of us I think in various ways...
 
hollydolly said:
Thank you OED.... that's precisely the question I was asking after reading the report. I'm sure it's the same in the UK...and it's a huge concern for all of us I think in various ways...
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You're welcome Holly. Here in the U.S., the Baby Boomer generation takes up a huge percent of the population. If most of us do not have enough finances, there will be a large strain on the social programs required to help those large numbers of people.
Since there are cutbacks for social programs in play now with some areas having really high rents, don't know how many of those who have low incomes and no savings will actually get the help they need. Will those masses be able to make it? It could get real ugly here.

I agree with the author of the article that there usually is some "wiggle room" in even the poorest person's budget that they can glean a savings from. Only problem is now banks want people to keep X amount of dollars in an account to avoid fees....sometimes that amount is a lot for people who already don't have much saved.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
I feel your empathy for those less fortunate Holly. I lived it for awhile myself. But when I was about 25 I decided I'd have to do something to change that. I referred to myself as "Poor Girl" when I was in my 20's. I too wound up raising my son mostly by myself on a low salary. I started with small amounts saved each paycheck (bi-monthly) and have been a saver (and eventually investor) ever since. As the years went on, my finances changed for the better. I have more than enough left over after expenses each month out of my two main sources of income..pension and SS. So yes, I have more than $500 in an emergency fund. :)

I've read so many articles about how Americans don't even have $1,000 saved up as they approach retirement. Some are living paycheck to paycheck, others are spendthrifts and don't think about saving until a crisis happens. I know people in both categories. The ones who could have done better but didn't really regret it.
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Not to be rude, but: Does your one eye require you to use a font that is so small that most of us have to enlarge it to read it?
 
applecruncher said:
That 20% is lower that the 64% of Brits receiving welfare....
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You guys are mixing up terminology. There are 'benefits', and there is formal 'welfare'. 20% of Americans are on a program that we call 'welfare', but half the population of the U.S. is on some kind of government benefit. That 64% UK figure is also about benefits, not a 'hard core' welfare program. Benefits include food stamps, WIC program, subsidized housing, school lunches, food bank, Medicare, SSI, and others. UK programs are a bit different, but have some of those same kind of benefits.

As far as the OP. yes, it's a 'shame', but a large percentage of the population lives paycheck to paycheck and doesn't have ready cash to pay for a car repair. And no, I have never been in that position and don't understand it at a 'gut level'.
 
retiredtraveler said:
You guys are mixing up terminology. There are 'benefits', and there is formal 'welfare'. 20% of Americans are on a program that we call 'welfare', but half the population of the U.S. is on some kind of government benefit. That 64% UK figure is also about benefits, not a 'hard core' welfare program. Benefits include food stamps, WIC program, subsidized housing, school lunches, food bank, Medicare, SSI, and others. UK programs are a bit different, but have some of those same kind of benefits.

As far as the OP. yes, it's a 'shame', but a large percentage of the population lives paycheck to paycheck and doesn't have ready cash to pay for a car repair. And no, I have never been in that position and don't understand it at a 'gut level'.
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Public assistance is just that, not necessarily welfare checks. And I think you mean Medicaid, not Medicare (two very different things).
 
retiredtraveler said:
You guys are mixing up terminology. There are 'benefits', and there is formal 'welfare'. 20% of Americans are on a program that we call 'welfare', but half the population of the U.S. is on some kind of government benefit. That 64% UK figure is also about benefits, not a 'hard core' welfare program. Benefits include food stamps, WIC program, subsidized housing, school lunches, food bank, Medicare, SSI, and others. UK programs are a bit different, but have some of those same kind of benefits.

As far as the OP. yes, it's a 'shame', but a large percentage of the population lives paycheck to paycheck and doesn't have ready cash to pay for a car repair. And no, I have never been in that position and don't understand it at a 'gut level'.
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Bold....absolutely correct, thank you...
 

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