Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Let's all save together - Senator Jeff Sessions proposes a national savings plan modeled on the successful Thrift Savings Plan used by federal employees. Here's a mind-blowing statistic from the WashPost article: aside from a primary residence, half of Americans have less than $25,000 in savings. Considering that the savings rate has gone negative for the first time since the Great Depression that number doesn't look like it's going to improve. If you're approaching retirement with only 25-large in hand, get used to the taste of cat food. Sheesh.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

That savings rate is misleading, as it does not include stocks, bons, mutual funds in any vehicle, including 401Ks.

Eric said...

Really? That's not the impression I got from the article and it seems to jibe with things I've read before. If true, than I'm part of the <$25K saved even though I have a healthy 401(k).

Anonymous said...

Yeah, this doesn't make any sense. Supposedly well over half of Americans are invested in the stock market through mutual funds, IRAs 401s, etc. That doesn't fit with half having only $25K. Typical newspaper report however --- they understand nothing but they report as if they know everything.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, this doesn't make any sense. Supposedly well over half of Americans are invested in the stock market through mutual funds, IRAs 401s, etc. That doesn't fit with half having only $25K. Typical newspaper report however --- they understand nothing but they report as if they know everything.