44% of Americans can't pay an unexpected $1,000 expense from savings. ‘We're just not wired to save,’ expert says
44% of Americans can't pay an unexpected $1,000 expense from savings. ‘We're just not wired to save,’ expert says
Building an emergency savings fund is a difficult task for Americans. Both the economy and the way we're psychologically wired may be to blame.
When faced with an unexpected $1,000 expense, more than one-third of Americans would borrow the money, according to a new Bankrate survey. That may include tapping their credit cards, seeking money from friends or family or taking out a personal loan.
Most would not turn to cash savings because they don’t have it, the personal finance website found.
Fewer than half of Americans, 44%, say they can afford to pay a $1,000 emergency expense from their savings, according to Bankrate’s survey of more than 1,000 respondents conducted in December.
That is up from 43% in 2023, yet level when compared to 2022.
“We’re just not wired to save,” said Brad Klontz, a certified financial planner and expert in financial psychology and behavioral finance. Our brains are instead programmed to focus on our immediate needs.
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I think it is more like people don't have high paying jobs with extra money to save.
The media has been blaming poor people for not having money for forty fucking years or more.
"Over the last 40 years, sadly, I think there’s been an effort to either make folks mad at folks at the top, or to be mad at folks at the bottom, Obama said. "And I think the effort to suggest that the poor are sponges, leeches, don’t want to work, are lazy, are undeserving, got traction."
To illustrate his point, the president brought up Fox News.
"If you watch Fox News on a regular basis, it is a constant menu," Obama said. "They will find folks who make me mad. I don’t know where they find them. They’re like, ‘I don’t want to work. I just want a free Obama phone’ or whatever. And that becomes an entire narrative, right? That gets worked up. And very rarely do you hear an interview of a waitress, which is much more typical, who’s raising a couple of kids and is doing everything right but still can’t pay the bills."
Yep, and this is from when he was president. Fox News is propaganda.
Excellent pull-quote except for this part: "I think there’s been an effort to either make folks mad at folks at the top"
No, Obama. No. We don't have power to do that. FOX News isn't trying to make folks mad at people at the top. They're only trying to do that to you, Obama, because you're black. They're propping up every rich fucking piece of shit they can, otherwise!
I believe he was saying other news networks were trying to make people mad at the top. But Fox News is casting poor people as bad and lazy when they are not.
other news networks were trying to make people mad at the top
Yeah, none of them actually do that. People are angry at the top because we constantly see them getting away with shit in the media. Like Trump, for example. I'm fucking pissed at him and the entire Republican establishment, because they're criminal fascists who tried to do a fucking coup, and I'm pissed at the Democrats for fucking glad-handing and footsying around with fucking fascists instead of treating it like the serious fucking problem it is. I'm pissed at AG Garland waiting until it was clear that Trump wasn't going to give back classified documents after two years to finally file charges. Anyone else would have been in chains almost immediately, and we literally had an air force kid that happened to recently as an example. I'm pissed at Obama for not putting an AG that would go after Bushes war crimes. No, we have a lot of glad-handing and letting people off at the top and that's where that sentiment fucking comes from Obama you "we need to look forward not backward" piece of shit. His lack of will in prosecuting war crimes is part and parcel to why they're so hesitant to prosecute Trump. It's all a fucking joke.
That is why people are angry at the top, not because any fucking media told us to. FUCK! Because it's painfully obvious there's two justice systems, one for the rich and politically connected and one for everyone else!
Tbf it's rich people who've been saying that, with media parroting them ... but I get what you mean.
with media parroting them
You mean the media that those rich people own? Huh, I wonder why the employees can't go against the boss' narrative without getting fired?
This is literally part of why Musk bought Twitter.
Those are the same people.
You're right. I'll amend my comment.
... with the media, that they own, parroting them.
If people are hungry then let them eat cake!
Been going on for a lot longer than fourty years.