#US_Economy #Financial_Struggles #Money_Management #Economic_Reality
Hey there! ๐ It’s a common dilemma people face – wondering why the US economy seems to be booming, yet many individuals are still feeling the pinch in their wallets. Let’s dive into some reasons why this apparent contradiction exists and explore ways we can navigate through it. ๐ธ
The Disconnect Between the Economy and Personal Finances
– **Income Inequality**: While the economy as a whole might be improving, the benefits are not evenly distributed. High-income earners may be thriving, but lower and middle-income households are still struggling to make ends meet.
– **Cost of Living Increases**: Essential expenses like housing, healthcare, and education continue to rise, outpacing wage growth for many Americans.
– **Debt Burden**: Consumer debt levels in the US are at all-time highs, with many individuals carrying burdensome amounts of debt that eat into their disposable income.
Ways to Improve Your Financial Situation
1. **Budgeting**: Tracking your expenses and creating a budget can help you understand where your money is going and make adjustments to improve your financial situation.
2. **Emergency Savings**: Building an emergency fund can provide a safety net for unexpected expenses, helping you avoid going further into debt.
3. **Investing Wisely**: Putting your money into investments that can generate long-term growth can help you build wealth over time.
4. **Seeking Additional Income**: Consider ways to increase your income through side hustles, freelancing, or upskilling to boost your earning potential.
Staying Positive in Challenging Times
Remember, you’re not alone in facing financial challenges, and there are steps you can take to improve your situation. By being proactive about managing your money and seeking out opportunities for growth, you can navigate through tough times and come out stronger on the other side. ๐ช
Overall, the disparity between the US economy’s performance and individual financial struggles highlights the need for personal financial management and resilience in the face of economic fluctuations. Keep striving towards your financial goals, and remember that small steps can lead to significant improvements over time! ๐๐
I hope this helps shed some light on the situation! Let me know if you have any more questions. ๐ฌ
not everybody, your only hearing from the broke ones.
Because the ‘economy’ is now a term for rich people’s yacht money.
Doesn’t matter that half of Americans can’t afford rent on one job, or that people are facing food insecurity, the economy is thriving because TVs and cars are more affordable.
People in the top few percent are raking it in. You must only know taxpayers.
Might have something to do with the area youโre living in and the job market there. Where I am just about everybody I know is building up savings or investing etc. Where do you live?
“Everybody is broke” is completely not true in the US. Look at the percentile data for income and net worth.
Youโre surrounded by broke people. Also, the people who are doing well are unlikely to talk about it onlineโฆ
Because the people telling you that the economy is good already got theirs and since they aren’t experiencing any financial stress, they automatically assume no one else is either.
Corporate greed is at an all time high. As corporations continue to have record breaking profits, stocks rise. It looks like a good economy but the people are being bled dry.
Sample bias.
How old are you?
Not to be dismissive, at all, but I feel like everyone I knew when I was in my 20s was broke. We were just settling into careers, had tons of student loan debt or hadn’t gone to college and couldn’t get good jobs, we didn’t have savings, our retirement funds had just taken a hit, we had a period of inflation … you know, kinda like the last few years.
But now, in my 40s, I’ve settled into my career. My savings are diversified enough to handle the shitshow that is the market, I have liquid savings and disposable income. I’m certainly not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m not broke either, and I my circle seems to be in the same boat.
That’s what the news wants you to believe. We aren’t rich by any means, but we still take vacations & I got a 24 Mustang in September. But I still gag when I spend $200+ a week on groceries when I could get a ton of stuff for $130 pre covid. I mean, we’ve had to make cut backs & when we travel we certainly aren’t on a cruise or flying anywhere. But I think people are doing better than we think & their priorities have changed since covid.
Because for decades the federal reserve and banks have been adjusting definitions. Inflation used to incorporate borrowing costs. Now it doesnโt. Unemployment used to include people who gave up on finding a job. Now it doesnโt. Inflation everyone uses โCPIโ to say things like โinflation isnโt that badโ, or โreal wages are risingโ is based on metrics that do not come close to reflecting the average person in the middle or lower classโs purchases.
So, in the end it is because the people who donate to politicians and run the media are slanted toward investors. If the stock market goes up and CEOs are getting their bonuses, that is all they really care about. They donโt care if your groceries and insurance and borrowing rates are up 50%, but your wages are only up 20%. They will just look at the CPI, say โCPI is only up 18%, wages are up 20%, so nobody has a right to complain because real wages are upโ, when that misses the real picture for most of America.
Then they have the gall to pretend like they donโt understand why 75% of America says they are doing worse, when they know itโs because their metrics no longer reflect realityโฆ and they know this because thatโs why they changed them in the first place.
Iโm not broke.ย
The “economy doing well” means that the system as a whole is producing value / growing at a rate deemed “good” by economists. It does not take into account where that value is going or who is benefitting from it. Currently, taxes and other things are set up in a way that a disproportionate amount of that value flows to a small number of wealthy people at the top of the system, while the majority of people are not benefitting from it.
I had an expensive lunch today with some friends who are quite well off and one of them posed a similar question, if everything is so hard right now why is this restaurant full?
Quite simply itโs because you donโt see the struggles that are not in your world.
Housing is a huge expense and probably plays a bigger part in consuming people’s income than, say, gas or groceries. The thing is, over 60% of the US are homeowners and 80% of them have mortgage rates under 5%. They likely bought pre-pandemic and can more easily afford the rising costs of everything else.
We keep buying $400 Taylor Swift tickets, $10,000 Super Bowl tickets and $60,000 monster trucks. Iโve seen so many interviews of Americans out and about town spending gobs of money on fun all while complaining how terrible the economy is. Movie theaters are packed every weekend, concerts are happening all over the country, new sport stadiums are getting built and filled with spectators, itโs a disaster people love to complain about while they eat a $10 hotdog and sip on a $20 beer.
Because few are actually broke. We do buy a lot of stuff. Nobody consumes like we do.
The economy’s health is often depicted by indicators like job growth and stock market performance, but these don’t always translate to personal wealth for everyone ๐. Many are grappling with debt, living costs, and stagnant wages that don’t keep up with inflation. It’s a reminder that macroeconomic success doesn’t always mean microeconomic prosperity for all. Let’s hope for policies that bridge this gap! ๐
The economy went into a deep recession in 2020, and we are recovering from that. Things will be rough for a whole until it stabilizes. We are moving in the right direction.
The economy is doing great for the rich. Guess where their extra money is coming from?
The economy and savings accounts are further apart than you may think.
The economy is strong because there are jobs out there and people are able to find employment. Many people have jobs and are buying things. “Luxury” items are being sold in high numbers, meaning people feel comfortable enough to buy, fancier cars, clothes, accessories, non basic food items. People are traveling, visiting tourist locations, buying and selling homes. On paper the economy is trucking right along.
Everyone’s broke because today’s culture requires the look of sameness, people are investing in their appearance, accessories, home decor, and trends because individual items aren’t so expensive they can’t be afforded for months on end. The habit of budgeting to the last dollar is so common. Treating ourselves has changed into a necessary self care, and each treat isn’t that expensive, but also doesn’t leave room for large additions to savings.
With bigger cities becoming more populated, the supply and demand for the area is maxing out. There isn’t enough room for the rate of expansion, keeping the demand high causing companies to be attracted to the area, attracting job seekers to the companies.
There is a level of cultural uncertainty right now that most of us haven’t seen in our lifetimes. Laws that most assumed to be our way of life have been questioned and radicalized in every direction. Everyone is aware of the issues, but there’s not clear direction right now, and people are actively dividing. Humans have a desire to retain the ‘everything is normal, everything is fine’ while internally freaking out, causing cultural tensions of mistrust.
People are trying to secure a section for themselves in any way possible, and trying to protect it. The world might be crazy but at least i have this zone, and they’re investing in either their homes, relationships, career, experiences, luxuries whatever.
People living paycheck to paycheck will do so in good times or bad. The increased cost of things we buy everyday fuel, groceries and things you pay monthly electricity and other i utilities. We have been conditioned to believe the price per gallon of gas is the sign of a good or bad economy
I get disability $1000:months and literally I only get to eat one pack of ramen noodles or a few apples or perhaps some Mac n cheese once every three days. I never have bottled water, juice or milk. I struggle to pay my bills and rarely get to see my kids on the weekends because I never have food in my house they can eat.
Life is incredibly unfair to someone like me with a heart condition and extremely severe anxiety and schizophrenia
The economy isn’t for you and I, it’s for rich people
The people who write about the economyโs health are living pretty different lives from the people who actually support that economy.
Statistics are like a lamppost to a drunk. More for support than illumination.
Averages can rise but so can the disparity of rich to poor. Capitalism guarantees this. US is an almost purely capitalist society.
Salary increase to inflation divergence is a good indicator of like changes IF you can get reliable and consistent data on either (spoiler, you can’t)
Because too many people are stupid and live above their means. They get in debt up to their eyeballs buying shit they don’t need.
For many people, they genuinely do not make enough money to rise and stay above the property line. Thatโs a separate issue.
For most others, IT’s just a matter of balancing the budget better.
Stop buying things with credit.
Stop thinking in terms of what is the highest minimum payment you can afford.
People need to have a plan to improve their finances, and yes, that includes the R word…
Restriction from spending more than you can afford.
Sorry to be โthat guy”, but itโs coming from personal experience where I mismanaged my money for 30 years, then took responsibility for my own mistakes and completely turned everything around with discipline, hard work, and executing a simple plan.
I listen to some economic podcasts. Some of it is described in other comments, but something the economists mentioned as a theory is that the removal of pandemic relief is really making people feel a financial squeeze. So while they might be better off on average than if they hadn’t gotten the relief, they feel it’s absence sorely.
The way we measure the economy is flawed.
The way we measure the economy SHOULD be based upon how the bottom 20% are doing, not the GDP.
Anecdotal brokenness doesn’t mean shit..
Itโs called trickle-up economics
Taking from everyone and funnelling it to the few.
Reverse Reaganomics
It took generations to pulverize the middle class, we wonโt perceive a turn around until we can look back on years of improvement.
It canโt be too bad if all these people are spending a grand or more on travel restaurants and hotels to see a damn minutes long eclipse