Many Americans have alarmingly low balances.

The largest proportion of those surveyed (38%) have $100 or less in their checking accounts.

Half of Americans have less than $500 in savings, with 36% having $100 or less in savings.

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldMEnglish
    22·
    3 days ago

    The sourced site is a little spammy, and I wish they linked the full survey in their article since they conducted the poll themselves, but it’s an important problem that people should talk about.

    1/3 of Americans over 65 (retirement age for them) have less than $100…

    We need to actually address this shit, and fast. Or we’re going to have a shit ton of elderly unhoused people soon. If they’re lucky they’ll end up in nursing homes our taxes pay for anyways. And the wealthy who own them will make profit off them still.

    And it doesn’t take much to fix this. I’m a disabled Vet, I basically get UBI, and got a good mortgage with no down payment because the government vouched and would have paid if I defaulted early. I also don’t have to pay anything for healthcare.

    We can 100% afford to give every last American what I’m getting. We just have to tax the wealthiest, and neither party wants to do that to a level that makes up for the damage they’ve caused.

    As bad as shit is, we’re really not that far away from fixing it. A decade of progressives running our government and shit would be fine. This isn’t some impossible problem we dont know how to fix, we’re just not electing people who want to fix it.

    It’s just insanely frustrating being a real world example of how much progressive policies can fix, and constantly being told we can’t tax billionaires enough for everyone to get it.

  • Kit@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    9·
    3 days ago

    Emptied my savings to move to a new city during the last election because my small town got very unsafe for a gay interracial couple. Then my partner was laid off for a year. My savings will never recover.

      • Kit@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        3·
        2 days ago

        Thanks for the kind words. It’s wild to be in an area where almost every house flies pride flags. A condo here cost more than twice what my house cost in my previous podunk small town, but it’s a good trade off to be safe and welcomed.

        • return2ozma@lemmy.worldOP
          32·
          2 days ago

          I too live in “the gayborhood” of my city. I still do a double take when I see LGBTQ+ walking down the street holding hands. I wish this for everyone in our community.

  • shortwavesurfer@monero.townEnglish
    52·
    3 days ago

    I mostly follow the Dave Ramsey every dollar plan. So I have my budget worked out in such a way that once I’m done paying everything and moving money around, my bank account has like $5 in it that’s just there to absorb any weird charges I might forget about. It doesn’t normally happen, but it helps to have it just for that reason. I also have a specific amount that I put into my savings every month and the vast majority of my money I take out of the fiat system entirely every single month.