There's a podcast I watch several times a week....which deals with US economics, finance, real estate and money-issues.
So this AM...the guy brought up this poll (2,000 people), and how 45-percent of folks now state....for whatever status they 'had'....they can no longer cover the cost of that status.
Meaning? If this were a couple making $120,000 in combined income, with x-amount of vacation....two new cars (with payments)....and 'comforts', then they've reached a point where something has to go or be dropped. Maybe it's the premium cable package....maybe instead of the $4k vacation to Aruba gone, you end up in Reno for a weekend....maybe it's one of the new $78k cars has to be sold (with a 8-year old Honda to fill the void).
It means of the 25-odd people that you know from work, from the church, or the neighborhood....there's ten of them in dire straits.
My question....back around 2000 (for the past 25 years)....were they continually on some track of spending excessively? With each pay-raise....they bumped their status up a notch?
Then I start to wonder....how much of a status-fall has to occur? Would this start to get on people's nerves?
1 comment:
a)
In fUSA, we have too many eaters chasing too little food.
Naturally, scarcity automatically increases perceived value.
.
b)
In fUSA, we have too many bodies chasing too little housing.
Naturally, scarcity automatically increases perceived value.
.
Fuel, tickets to the opera, guitar strings.
Everybody is chasing too few of everything.
.
An aside:
I admit to zero skills for handling massive debt, that illusory '70% of income'.
I am less equipped to deal with break-even debt, that balance of every ruple coming in is already spent.
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