I read this article this morning while catching up on the news and having coffee... And it's really alarming.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/secretly-doing-better-money-think-183016936.html

"So if your savings exceed $5,000, you are already outpacing most American households in terms of having a financial cushion. And if your balance tops $10,000, you find yourself in the minority of only 21% of people who have managed to amass a five-figure safety net."

They are saying in the article that if you have over $5000 in savings that you are doing better than most people. Really? Like that's something good that needs to be applauded. WTH? Maybe if you're 20 years old.

More from the article...

"For example, according to the Federal Reserve's Survey Of Consumer Finances published in October 2023, the median net worth for ages 35-44 is $135,600. For ages 45-54 it’s $247,200. Having a net worth higher than these medians suggests you are ahead of the curve in building up a financial backbone."

Keep in mind here that "Net Worth" includes all your assets (Cash, Investments, House, Cars, Boats, Campers, Guns, Furniture, etc...) minus debt. Knowing what house and car prices are these days, what those numbers tell me is that the average person is carrying a chit ton of debt and has very little savings, and that's scary to think about.

There must be a bunch of folks in this country that appear to have it all together, but are in reality living on the edge. I wonder how many folks have enough cash to pay living expenses for a few months?

People on here make fun of Dave Ramsey for his draconian approach to personal finance, and I'm certainly not a disciple of his, but it sounds like a whole lot of folks need to take his advice and get their finances in order. No wonder he's such a Pied Piper of personal finance.

across the spectrum of US people MOST are living pay check to pay check.

Right here.

In an earlier conversation at work, I have since retired, we were discussing the downturn in the stock market and losses in the company 401k and the figure of $100,000 came up and we had one coworker make the statement if he had a 100,000 in his 401k, he would just go ahead and retire.

Never heard of Dave Ramsey until 10-12 years age, never needed his advice, don’t agree with him 100% but, his advice is spot on for the most part

Damn... $100k. Seriously. I remember way back when I got mine past $100k I was like, "Well... It's a start."

I need to become a financial advisor when I retire next month as a side gig. People don't have a clue.

$10K, really? A quick search shows, "Less than half (45%) of Americans would be able to cover a $1,000 emergency expense without turning to a credit card or loan, according to the survey.
Most Americans Save, but Many Can’t Cover a $1,000 Emergency." Source was Nerd Wallet.

Times are tough right now for a lot of folks. With the rate of inflation and interest rate hikes - it’s challenging to make ends meet for many folks.

Most don’t want to adjust their lifestyle to those factors, or admit they are slowly drowning in debt. I’ve heard of folks reducing or eliminating their 401k contributions - which may give them some short term relief, but will cause long term misery. I’ve also heard other stories of folks withdrawing from their 401k and paying the penalties to reduce bad debt, again which will lead to a challenging future.

I read a story about record numbers of folks are borrowing from their 401k's too. Scary to think about it.

We borrowed money from our 401k plans years ago, but not to pay off debt. Instead we borrowed from ourselves at 3% to buy land when land was cheap, paid off our loans to ourselves and ended up tripling our money.

It’s a shame that credit and loans are advertised and normalized on every corner. There are entire generations now that don’t know anything different.

I was doing the Dave Ramsey plan before I ever heard of him. Never borrow money, no credit cards an get my ass up at 4 am go to work . Dave has made himself a millionaire just by something that should be taught in schools an at home when ur young . If you was raised poor like I was it did t have to be taught .i figured out early I didn’t want live poor . Live on less than your make is not a hard concept to grasp. I used feel sorry for people that lived day to day but not anymore . They made their choice.

My biggest issue with Dave’s plan is credit cards, I understand his strategy but, I am 65yo and never had a credit card balance, payed it monthly or I didn’t get it till I could pay it off. We have always kept our needs and wants separate.

We buy everything with a credit card and pay it off at the end of every month. Free money for a month and airline miles too.

I think Dave Ramsey's problem with them are that most people are dumbasses and abuse credit cards and get themselves in deep doodoo.

21% of 330 million people is still 69,300,000 which is in line with the standard income distribution curve. The more telling breakdown is how the numbers shake out between red and blue states. Or how about certain cities that can weigh down a state. I bet the difference between Chicago and the rest of Illinois is very noticeable.

No such thing as free money imo. Airline miles are great if you fly a lot. The "free money " would not be enough for me to have to think to myself I have to pay this off at the end of the month everyday. That would drive me nuts

Irish, u could do that finance thing as a retirement gig and make bank (not that you need it) because folks need this. As far a credit cards and free money, it absolutely works. We’ve gotten hotel rooms, flights, and I even used my “free money” at BPS Sunday to get some stuff for a rifle I’m working on. Just gotta be wise.

You get an email statement; review it and pay it. How hard can it be?

That’s what I thought. I put every dang thing I can on my card, heck, next month I will put $32,000 on it in one day, unfortunately. But it has been paid off every month for many many years and we travel several times a year airfare free. Just boils down to do you have the financial ability and enough discipline to pay that thing off on time every month. If you do not for heavens sake do use them

My secretary pays mine off every month.

She secretly likes to be called that

With how fiscally irresponsible the US gooberment is - is it really a surprise that a majority of Americans behave the same way?

Yep, I don't know the % from the past few decades but this isn't a new thing. A lot of them live in nice neighborhoods , have at least two new vehicles, bass boat , SxS, go on big trips every other month , etc. People want too much and want it now!