[quote=flyer] …It’s still hard for me to believe only 5% or less of US households have $1MM or more in investable assets–especially with all of the “attitudes” you see in CA–and I’m saying that as a native.[/quote]
flyer, I can believe it. I believe 90% the under 50 group live solely on credit and out of those 90% over half live paycheck to paycheck to keep mo payments made on that credit. The other portion (unemployed and underemployed) are only making sporadic payments, the minimum payment or none at all on that credit.
Most of the over 50 group has had a portion of their income cut off, whether thru job loss, retirement, semi-retirement, etc. So they don’t have the income to service the same level of debt as their younger counterparts. Nevertheless, the over-50’s who are still employed are trying to service debt, pay of their principal residence or are doubling/tripling up on saving for retirement. Most of the boomers who lost their jobs too early (or gave them up for health reasons) have learned to live within their (now) lower means. This is due to childhood conditioning from “WWII era” or “Greatest Generation” parents (who lived thru the great depression) and hammered into us the virtues of economizing :=]
If you lived all or most of your life without a smartphone and other gadgets, a newer luxury car, convenience food and cable TV, it doesn’t bother you so much if you don’t have these things now.
I honestly don’t know what today’s 30-yo mother of three does about her smartphone acct ($75+ per month) when her 5 years of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) gig is up.
