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'Why don't Americans save more money?'

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Dick Whitman, May 16, 2016.

  1. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    However, assuming some sea change has occurred, I wonder if any of it is attributable to social media. It seems to fuel the "keeping up with the Jonses" mentality. Mrs. Whitman frequently finds herself a little down because it feels like "everyone else" is "able to" do amazing things, judging by their Facebook feeds. "The Smiths just to Hawaii again." Mrs. Whitman is a very down-to-earth woman and not remotely materialistic, and even she finds herself getting caught up in it at times. It's like everyone thinks life is passing them by.
     
  2. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    I can't believe how much people spend on goddamn birthday parties for 6- and 7-year-olds. Every mother's son out there has it, in my town, at some sensory overload combination arcade and playground, dropping a few hundos in the process. I'm ready to move to a small rural town and be done with it all many days.
     
  3. Iron_chet

    Iron_chet Well-Known Member

    Our Day home for our boy is $1000K/month and that includes a few after school visits for our daughter.

    His Kindergarten is only half a day so still going to incur some cost but looking forward to getting some of that back.
     
  4. SpeedTchr

    SpeedTchr Well-Known Member

    I will never be able to retire, because I have consistently needed to cash out my retirement when I have changed jobs. Being self-employed sucks a lot of financial life out of a person, but I really can't complain. I have done pretty much everything I ever wanted to do and enjoyed it while I was physically able.
     
  5. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

  6. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    Well, other than me.

    [/1990Lexus2000Honda2004TV]
     
  7. doctorquant

    doctorquant Well-Known Member

    Sitting here thinking about how different my finances could be ... I could easily (well, readily) shave $1,000+ a month.

    Deletions:
    Cable/internet $200
    Wine/beer $350
    Club volleyball $200
    Leisure travel (avg.) $200
    Gym dues $100

    Shit ... that's a lot of money!
     
  8. JC

    JC Well-Known Member

    And a hell of a boring life.
     
    JackReacher and Vombatus like this.
  9. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    Yeah dq ... even leaving in the stuff for kids' activities, it wouldn't be difficult at all for me to chop a couple hundred bucks a month -- and to JC's point, my quality of life wouldn't deteriorate all that much. Probably get better in fact if I cut down on the cable TV offerings.
     
    Hokie_pokie likes this.
  10. JC

    JC Well-Known Member

    I think we could all cut down things to save more but I don't want to penny pinch.

    Obviously there is need for balance but saving for later to make yourself miserable now isn't worth it to me.
     
  11. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Unlike some cultures, we don't live with multiple generations to help out everyone.

    We also don't have the culture of saving or sending much of our check to support other family members.

    We have a culture of spending and then when (and if) we retire, bitching about how we can't live on Social Security.

    My best hope is to inherit a lot of money. I just need some family member to get wealthy.
     
  12. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    We're also the first generation -- or start of the second depending on the timeframe you want to use -- that has had to worry so much about saving for ourselves without benefit of a pension. That was a huge part of the plan in a great many industries through the '80s or '90s or even '00s. From my 10 years in a union, I have a pension that theoretically will pay me a few hundred bucks a month when I retire. I don't expect to see more than 25 percent of it in the real world. But in decades past, any union member was looking at a pretty good retirement package without even planning for it.
     
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