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The Last Nail In The Millennials' Coffin: A Negative 2% Savings Rate
We have extensively covered the economic devastation that currently plagues the largest...
... and most important age for the future of the nation cohorts in the US: adults under 35, also known as Millennials. For a refresher see Millennials Devastated As American Dream Becomes Nightmare For Most, On Crushing Student Loans, Worthless College Degrees And The Millennials, Dear Recently Graduated Millennials: Prepare To Work Until You Are 73, and of course, Meet The Millennials: All You Ever Wanted To Know About America's Youth, In Charts.
Today, we present the latest nail in the coffin of the generation which none other than Obama said he is betting on to "Help Shape the New American Economy."
The bottom line, or rather, negative line, is the Millennials' savings, because "after a flirtation with thrift after the recession, young Americans have stopped saving. Adults under age 35—the so-called millennial generation—currently have a savings rate of negative 2%, meaning they are burning through their assets or going into debt, according to Moody’s Analytics. That compares with a positive savings rate of about 3% for those age 35 to 44, 6% for those 45 to 54, and 13% for those 55 and older."
The turnabout in savings tendencies shows how the personal finances of millennials have become increasingly precarious despite five years of economic growth and sustained job creation. A lack of savings increases the vulnerability of young workers in the postrecession economy, leaving many without a financial cushion for unexpected expenses, raising the difficulty of job transitions and leaving them further away from goals like eventual homeownership—let alone retirement.
“In the very near term it’s a plus for spending and economic growth, but in the long run these households are not saving, and that will impair their ability to spend in the future,” said Mark Zandi, the chief economist of Moody’s Analytics who calculated the numbers with Moody’s economist Mustafa Akcay.
... the new Moody’s data—using a technique developed at the Federal Reserve to combine its Survey of Consumer Finances and Financial Accounts of the United States reports—show how savings rates diverge across demographic groups.
Here is the problem: recall that Janet Yellen's "suggestion" to defeat record wealth inequality is for "poorer" Americans to build assets. Well, there is a problem when you can't even save enough to have $1 left in your pocket at the end of the month after all expenses:
“I’ve been saving almost exclusively in my mind,” said 26-year-old Emily Turner, a 2010 graduate of Villanova University who lives in southern Maryland. Most of her paycheck from the digital consulting and web-design firm she works for “doesn’t even make it to a conventional bank account. I’ve certainly not had the opportunity to invest in stocks or anything.”
The rest is well-known to regular ZH readers:
The problems from a lack of savings promise to reverberate for years. Those who don’t save are unlikely to be wealthy in the future, meaning American angst over wealth inequality seems poised to persist if most millennials are unable to save or choose not to.
Young households’ wealth has declined even more than their incomes. In the previous generation, Americans who were under 35 in 1995—often labeled Generation X—earned wages that were 9% higher than today after adjusting for inflation. Now, the median millennial has a net worth of $10,400, down 42% from $18,200 for Generation X, according to Fed data.
Why the disastrous economic data for America's most important generation? The answer is simple: the economy is, despite all the pomp and propaganda, still a disaster. That, and of course, the $1.2 trillion student loan bubble.
For some young households, the inability to save reflects the weak job market, said Shai Akabas, an economist at the Bipartisan Policy Center. While unemployment nationally has fallen below 6%, workers age 25 to 34 have a 6.2% unemployment rate and those 20 to 24 face 10.5% unemployment.
“There’s people who really can’t save because they don’t have the means to save and that’s not a small group of people,” Mr. Akabas said. “If you’re in a $25,000-a-year job and starting a family, it’s going to be very hard to accumulate savings regardless of your consumption decisions.”
Another big difference from earlier generations is the rise of student loans. In 1995, borrowers under 35 had median student debt of $6,100, according to Fed data. That has risen to $17,200.
For Ms. Turner, debts include $5,000 in student loans, $3,000 on credit cards and $6,000 borrowed from family. “There’s no formal note for that, but it resides in my psyche that I will pay it back at some point,” she said.
“I know I shouldn’t have accepted credit so freely,” she said. “But part of youth, the wiring of a young person, is the focus on really short-term gratification.”
And then there is also the fact that Millennials just prefer to live well:
The money mostly went to her social life and travel, [Emily Turner] says: a trip to Central America, a wedding in Southern California, a bachelorette party in Austin, Texas, trips to Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C., to see friends, another bachelorette party in Austin.
There was a sign it wouldn’t be this way. After the recession, the savings rates of those under age 35 climbed to 5.2% in 2009 and even briefly surpassed the savings of those age 35 to 44, according to Moody’s.
Don't worry Emily, soon enough you won't have the ability to fund such distractions at which point you can once again focus wholeheartedly on boosting your savings. Best of luck.
And in other comedic news, here is Obama's recent Op-Ed targeting the Millennials:
Why I’m Betting on You to Help Shape the New American Economy
History has dubbed you the “Millennials.”
You’re part of the first generation to grow up in the digital age. Some of you grew up with cell phones tucked into your book bags, while others can remember the early days of landline, dial-up internet. You’ve gone from renting movies on VHS tapes to purchasing and downloading them in a matter of minutes.
Today, more of you are earning college degrees than ever before — and more young people from low-income families are getting a shot at higher education than previous generations. Along with having higher education levels, you’ve got a lower gender pay gap than other generations?—?and we’re working to close it even further. Take all those things together, and it’s no surprise that entrepreneurship is in your DNA. One survey found that more than half of Millennials expressed interest in starting (or have already started) their own business.
So here’s something we know for certain: Your rising generation of Americans isn’t just adapting to a 21st-century economy. You’re actively changing it.
And we know that when we invest in your potential, rather than stack the deck in favor of the folks who are already at the top, our entire economy does better. It’s the reason we’ve expanded grants, tax credits, and loans to help more families afford college. It’s why we’re giving nearly 5 million Americans the chance to cap student loan payments at 10 percent of their income. And thanks to the Affordable Care Act, the number of uninsured young adults has fallen by nearly 40 percent over the past four years.
You may have graduated into the worst recession since the Great Depression, but today — for all the challenges you’ve already faced, and after all the grueling work it’s taken to bounce back — you’re in the best position to break into the newest sectors of the new American economy.
...
Throughout my time in office, my Administration has bet on American innovation. We’ve bet on America’s young people. And today, I’m betting that you’ll continue unleashing new ideas and new enterprises for decades to come.
And that's why, dear young Americans, you are fucked.
For further proof, see here:
Etc.
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But, with NIRP, now they can earn negative interest on their negative savings.
A double-negative is a positive, right?...
Beggar thy Neighbor bitches.
Well, somebody's gotta pay.
It's your grandkid's revenge for mishandling their money.
LOL- of course, the Administration is looking at this and is thinking "we gotta relieve those old people of their money- 13% is just toooo fuckin' high..."
Yeah but just think how 'cool' they look with the latest iPhone
Yep, Apple is accumulating their debt instruments.
Apple sells status and self esteem to the underdogs.
Gay is the new straight
Last? Print more nails! And nail-guns!
Value storage for sagings is NOT trusted by millenials. They are spending 100% of the fruits of their labor as the only way to preempt their excess labor from being robbed by the financial elites.
They dont see any sense in savings and then having to risk their extra labor in the stock market, which they see as rigged, or to have their savings eaten by real inflation not quality adjusted CPI.
I graduated with a mortgage, and was lucky to get a nigh job. Now that I have some money, its in my best interest to pay off 7 to 12% school loans, then to save money in the bank with no interest. And i am not looking for another home mortgage on top.
You think Iam screwed, wait till your generation try to retire bitchezzzz.
Now that I have had time to let all this sink in, even though I am dead ass broke, I am actually thankful on a weird level. Yeah, thankful. I am glad I go my ass handed to me at 40 instead of 65.
I mean, I can suck it up and make it all back and protect it this time. However, to have your savings wiped out at 65 when you are supposed to be on Chill Street, that has to be really screwed. I mean, most people that are of retirement age are not as computer savvy nor no longer in their prime earning years... and to have to reinvent yourself when you should be sippin tea has to be an even bigger headache. About the only advantage I see is if the boomers own their homes free and clear... other than that, having to start over and know you could live til 100 and the economy is fucked... is... just... fucked.
The coffin closed a long time ago.
Layoff List: http://www.dailyjobcuts.com
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Savings is so Bretton Woods era!
Savers are losers!
http://youtu.be/nQSoaJSs-UE
This article demonstrated not only do the Millennials not have jobs, whatever money they earn is quickly pissed away. Corporate America has won!!
Why save? The Chinese can do that for us. We only have to print.
Don't they need savings first to be true?
Yeah, the poor Obama millenials -- No Hope and No Pocket change.
i know my 19 yr. ild saves where it doesnt show up...and this weekend i was at a wedding and had the chance to talk to a young man about 25ish...he and his friends are buying the shinny, his dad who was my age 50ishes....had not one piece...so as i look for silver linings in this pathetic country...maybe they are saving. maybe...
Ya, I'm 29, and most of my 'saving' doesn't show up either. I only know a few people who do that same thing, so I doubt there are many of us, but it doesn't show up anywhere either. I get the kids in my families eagles for their birthdays and Christmas, my 1 year old has a nice little stack that grows every time anyone gives us money for him too.
I am 31 and employed as a Realtor - Started my own business and location is paid off, Married, Own my home already, have 2 kids (one a new born), and I WORK at keeping my savings completely off the books...
I don't have a ton of debt, no mortgage, no credit cards or credit debt, no student loan debt, I DO HAVE 2 small car loans and small medical bills in debt outstanding. Goes without saying I have no savings account, one checking account that only keeps what pays the bills, no stocks, no bonds and only a small ammount of hard currency on hand.
All of my money is tied up in PM's, Land, livestock, and time with my family.
My mindset is completely different than any of my friends, I am building everything I have towards real assets that I can touch. That being said, coming into adulthood right now SUCKS! They play a very serious game to make the millenials believe in some distorted American Dream of debt inservitood. It's like a fish swimming upstream... You just have to believe in what you are doing and put your head down, work as hard as you can and understand what builds real wealth instead of illusory debt "wealth."
My 10 year old has been stacking silver and copper (I help him sort pre-1982 pennies for copper) since he was 7. I am very proud of that and want to give him the same anti-fiat upbringing that I had. My grandfather lost his first farm to the depression and his advice always was: never trust the government and never trust the banks. I have added never trust the Dollar.
“I know I shouldn’t have accepted credit so freely,” she said. “But part of youth, the wiring of a young person, is the focus on really short-term gratification."
Again, personal responsibility. Don't cry for government handouts, when you make piss poor decision after piss poor decision. Try making some good decisions for a change.
There are no good decisions when the foundation of money is fraud.
That's not true. You may be right that the foundation of money is fraud, but a good decision would have been not to become indebted to it.
Are you giving that tidbit of grandfatherly advice to the college-aged woman or the lenders who lent her the money.
The lenders lent a blank check to a college student with no real way of paying it back, and they'll still get a bailout from the government if she doesn't pay up. Shouldn't it be the lenders who should be more responsible with their money? The lenders don't live up to this mythical moral virtue of "responsibilty" because the taxpayer will just bail them out or the Fed will just inject QE onto their books.
If you want to discuss morality lets look at the big boys first, as I agree with Gerald Celente who grew up in the Bronx, "The fish rots from the head down."
I'm not disagreeing about the bankers. She didn't have to take a blank check from anyone. If she's forced to buy food and heat with that blank check, thats one thing. If she's using the money to buy the latest Iphone and all the other Igadgets, and the fancy bling jeans, then she's the idiot, not me. I am wearing a 20 year old pair of old jeans as we speak, no credit card debt here. You can choose to, or not to be a debt slave. No one held a gun to her head to take the blank check, and no one can afford to pay 18%+ interest especially millenials. They just want instant gratification, no matter WHAT the cost.
To her credit she didn't get a mortgage yet.
"Again, personal responsibility. Don't cry for government handouts, when you make piss poor decision after piss poor decision. Try making some good decisions for a change."
You mean the boomers who speculated secondary property they can't afford with teaser rates or the criminal bankers?
What was the price of gas before the boomers became the fiscal majority? Hello? Hello? Your ways are not working-
And the sick cult of John Lennon worship proved that it worked too well.
Overpriced krap toys made for $5 in Taiwann's Foxconn on the market for $500 for self esteem?
THe mindfuck mentality to rob you is the exact reason why I HATE HATE HATE boomer nazi white supremacist tweaker trash and hipsters.
Some sniveling thief who has done NOTHING or accomplished NOTHING or brought ANY value wants to rob me?
They had to get the government to rob us in the same way corrupt countries had to oppress the smarter groups in the world.
The older the generation the greater the beneficiary they are of hyper-inflated real estate and equaties prices. Easy to have money in the bank when you bought that 1200 square foot brownstone back in '62 for $5000 and sold it for 1.5 million in 2005. As Ron Paul has said generational theft.
the whole "generational theft" rethoric is in my humble opinion just divisive politics
when it comes to saving, imho it's more important what the so-called Generation X situation is then that of the Millennials. saving is a hallmark of generations that know they are mortal, or know they might need something for a rainy day. we all know that young people under 30 are less aware of not being slated for perennial youth. not that Gen X is in a good situation
when it comes to renting, or living with your parents... well, for europeans this new American situation is nowhere "new". it was the American Dream in form of very early household creation, with young people marrying very early and immediately entering the "own home" market that was the unique, or should I write... exceptional
but this was the result of relentless federal subsidy, creating a very high houseowner quota and, eventually, a disfunctional market
a paradigm that changed. I personally note that many US Millennials are less and less keen to enter this wholesale broad front consumeristic "I need a house in the suburbs, a lawn, a suburbian car, make it two cars, a garage full of stuff I bought but I don't know why, gardening toys, a small inflatable pool, etc. etc.". And this is not only a question of affordability, it is also a question of culture, with them becoming more urban and less sub-urban. do you need a huge kitchen if your young wife is actually not married to you or prefers anyway to call in? "do you need this or that if..." is more the template
question is if the older suburban generations are aware of this or if they see it as another nail in the coffin of their world. the whole point of having one generation after the other is anyway so that the younger generations adapt to the changes in the environment, isn't it? subsidies work, but not forever. usually something breaks, as we have it here
go ask young Germans, in their country homeowner's quota is below 50% since ever, and urban renting the norm, from cradle to grave, just to highlight the point
I will never forget how in the aftermath of 9/11 President Bush rallied people to the front of... more shopping. As much as I like to rail against Lord Keynes, he was right in one point: during a demand crisis it makes sense to have gov spending temporarily taking up the slack. but it's not something you can do always, and forever
good post.
One quibble -- the percentage of mills living in suburbs/exurba is HIGHER than those living in urban setting. This isn't just because they're living with mum and dad ... note. They WANT to live in the burbs. See Joel Kotkin, of New Geography. He's a demographer.
The notion that the youngest adults are just dying to live in artsy, expensive and high-density communities is simply false. On average, they eventually want what every other generation wanted -- a house, family, safety, financial stability and kids.
excellent reply. now, is it a question of demand or... supply? you can't choose parents with a big urban flat. but yes, when it eventually comes to family, most of them I expect will go to the burbs... because of the schools. but offer them a good environment for children in a more urban setting, and I think bets are off
remember that Europe used to be more urban then America. now, it depends how you account for suburbs, but in general the US is already more urban then Europe
Yes Ghordius the move to urbanize everyone and make then live in 200 sq sardine cans is all part of the Agenda 21 plan. As I stated above, first over inflate asset prices to make " normal living" unafortalbe and then squeeze it from the other side with high unemployment rate and low paying jobs aka globalization. Of course this has been going on in most of Europe and Japan for quite some time now. One can't substain a population with less than 2.0 birth rate as much of these countries currently have.
Nope. The boomers are divisive politics. The boomers admitted that they use the MSM to put the younger generations down in order to feel better about themselves. Because the failed chemistry experiments with an equity line and the voting/fiscal majority was too lazy to better themselves so they use their majority and their influence to keep young adults who may not be white (incl. myself) and without a trust poor and in dire straights by stiffing us on our efforts and hard work.
The ugly boomer kleptocracy enforced white trash caste system did enough drugs to keep violence on the streets and it too dangerous to be poor or financially modest in the US. Then they blame sober nice kids.
Whose stupid enough to take out counterfeit subprime mortgage teaser backed real estate ponzi scheme to enforce homelessness. Their elected boomer Congress, delegates and lobbyists did this to us.
I just knew there'd be a few loser comments, blame it on the parents.
Too bad ma and pa didn't leave you a trust fund, you sorry wanker. Obviously you have no drive or ambition to make your own place in the world. You are just another entitlement freeloader. I hope your parents throw you out on the street and let you starve. I would in a heartbeat.
It was the boomer garbage who betrayed the spouses THEY CHOSE FOR THEMSELVES.
It was the boomer garbage who betrayed their own children.
It was the boomer garbage that exploited children as meal tickets. (before it was just child support, later it became welfare, military benefits when monies were shipped overseas to tiger mom's relatives, anchor baby entitlements, etc.)
It was the draft dodging beatniks who sent Gen X, Y and Millinials to multiple tours of THREE wars!
BEFORE they corrupted the government to robbed all of us when we were in need of shelter.
The boomer garbage did so many drugs that the country is now violent due to the drug trade. These pretentious egomaniacs in berks have absolutely NO room to patronize ANYONE about non-violence ANYWHERE as they can't fix the ghrelin peptides NPY-y5r and CART to cure addictions. Nope. Too stupid. They're also the losers invested in for profit prisons.
The boomer "quality control" vetted mind candy chemicals so well that big pharma got the bright idea that duhmericans will blindly toss any chemical at thei rown body then brag about the consequences.
Do you REALLY want to know why US healthcare is in a crisis? Ask Pablo Escobar.
Ask the boomer garbage how they enforce quality control. These braindead losers will tell you, "I pay into medicare, the doctors will take care of me".
These braindead LOSERS are the fiscal and voting majority.
AND they screwed up public education, made higher education too expensive so we can at least set ourselves up for success in the GLOBAL market.
Boomers LOVE stagflation so much that they voted to recreate the Carter version. The tweaker nazi trash loves racism too.
Then the boomer garbage has the audacity to sit around and point fingers, critisize,m condescend and patronize with MY TAX DOLLARS IN THEIR POCKETS that's fueling their gas guzzlers.
THe RACIST American boomer kleptocratic white trash caste system of tweaker nazi trash hated me first. It's my duty to protect myself from them. It's not divisive politics. I fixed everything in my life, they fucked it up and then ruined what I had to piece together.
Fuck the garbage baby boomers. Big pharma isn't imposing natural selection fast enough and it's costing us too much imaginary money.
Ghordius.
Stupid.
The economy is sooooooo great! That um, 98% of the Navy boot camp NON-OFFICER graduates have college degrees.
YOUR idiot draft dodgers sent the younger generations to multiple tours OF THREE WARS! AS MERCENARIES FOR BRIBES FROM THE ARABS. FOR A SURVIVAL JOB.
Before the beatnik freeloading through government manipulated markets.
Nixon sold the country out by dropping the gold standard. The beatnik freeloaders took advantage of that so much that the only cash flow into the US is through foreign governmnet holdings of US Treasuries. INcluding OPEC who buys them on the London exchanges.
It was the boomer garbage that imposed the "Over represented minority clause" to discriminate against anyone who isn't white, black or latino because THEY WERE THREATENED.
They were threatened because they did nothing but bad drugs.
The cost of housing went WAY up.
The cost of gas went WAY up.
The cost of college educations went WAY up.
Boomers raised the drinking age to 21.
Boomer elected boomer trash violated the 8th Amendment and enforced racism and corruption.
All because of the boomers. Horrible consumers, horrible voters, sociopaths, blood thirsty backstabbing sycophants.
I was fortunate that I had immigrants in my life as I was growing up, they were my source of normalcy in this fucked up country.
combatsnoopy, did you read my comment at all? you seem stuck in my first sentence. I remember you, btw. do you remember me?
Interesting but I'm not sure the 'pauvre moi' Millenial is a complete analysis.
Versus new $800 iPhones every six months and $500/mo data plans? They are certainly just as big of consumers buying even more worthless stuff than you mention above.The Millenials (aka FSA) feel they are entitled to everything. I'm not working from the bottom up. If you're not a millionaire by 30 you're a loser, etc. etc. The whole urbanization mantra is more of a 'I gotta be a hipster' cultural thing because Mommy/Daddy can front them the ridiculous rent. Let's not forget supposedly Lena Dunham's 'Girls' is a generational icon and representative of the new millenial culture. Sex in the City: Brooklyn style. Quintessential solipcism and hedonism. This generation isn't adapting, they are demanding special treatment.
Bottom line, the global economy sucks and the 'I blame Bush' dog doesn't hunt anymore. The Obama generation was betrayed not by Mommy/Daddy Boomer but an overreaching Progressive Fascist cancer of government couched in a 'Hope and Change' mantra. Whoops, and who exactly rallied the Obamateur government into office -- twice. Take some responsibility.
Maybe reflecting on their generation's flaws (everyone has them ya know), they can fix what every other generation supposedly fucked up. And BTW, the boomers (aka hippies) blamed their parents for their woes and FDR's bullshit. FDR's generation blamed the Wilsonian Progressives. Same shit, different channel. Blame the real culprits, international bankers, fractional bankiing and their heroin addicted and overreaching Government clients. That cabal is predatory of all ages and shapes of sheeple.
Most boomers have that view too. That's why they collect "entitlements" at the cost of the Millennial and unborn's future.
The younger generations are "entitled" because they learned that trait from their elders.
Well, hopefully when this magical transfer of wealth to the Millenials happens around the 2020 timeframe, they will prove me wrong and give all their wealth so future generations won't have to feel their pain. Being social animals, they will gladly disperse their wealth to the younger generation as a sign of their superior social gooeyness. Sorry, every age group gets shafted by the elders, they are not unique -- but they sure do whine more. Ageing is a trickle down phenomenon. Again, boomers were railing about FDR's shit and they were the peace and love generation. Millenials are not special in their pain from "the man".
To be fair, although Boomers are friggin demanding with what they think they are entitled to, they did pay via taxes into the system. Sucks and all that but it is a contract of a sort whether ridiculous promises for political expediency were right or not. Millenials want all their stuff up front without filling any coffers. I don't think they should fill the coffers but on the flipside don't demand gubmint welfare at 23. Obama et al are using them as useful idiots to promote his agenda -- not their best interests. Direct anger where it is do.
"Gardening Toys?" That's an oxymoron!
Debt levels for governments (yes, yes, no matter that some annual deficit spending rates have declined modestly), corporations (400 to nearly 800 billion of share buybacks per year- as in, annually - just on U.S. markets, adds up), and consumers (living on credit cards, HELOCs, cash advances, title loans, etc.) is at all time record levels again - Rejoice!
Debt levels are much higher than the last peak in 2007 before the bloodletting in 2008-2009.
The last 6 years have been a crack-up feast on debt, and the media doesn't even mention it, at a time when real incomes are stagnant or declining, and savings rates have gone negative.
p.s. - I call bullshit on the alleged savings rates of the other groups referenced, too. There is no way in hell that those demographic slices are saving anywhere near those bullshit figures cited (seniors are re-entering work force at record levels FFS).
Yup, I concur. Whatever savings rate the other older aged groups even has must be dwindling pretty fast thanks to the REAL non CPI inflation that is persisting...anyhow, like another poster says, if Apple keeps coming out with new products, this -ve savings rate will be more negative for the millenial group.
The "alleged savings rates" include 1% ers and the latest stock market run up.
The stocks will give up their gains in the next crash, but the 1% ers will gain all those loses.
Basically, the percentages are the number of 1% ers in that age group.
Yep- they need a mean figure here, not average.
Bush used the wrong term - it's the "Loanership Society" . . .
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=Qtd
As President, I will do everything in my power to get America borrowing again!
Nope, it's like making $1000 a week but having an $800 a week nose, you just can't keep up with the other bills although the #"s always crunch up right.
Put your money in stocks or else you skinny jeans wearing motherfuckers!
Or maybe they're just buying silver instead of putting money in the bank.
Is that before or after trying to buy obombocare?
Time for the bail outs to start - of course it will wait until election season.
Election season's over - it's time to pay up in the back room and no vaseline will be provided..
The mid-terms are over - Election season is never over.
Who has savings?
yep. I am 46 and having to start from motherfucking scratch. In my 30's I thought I was ahead of the game, equity, houses, nice vehicles, etc. etc. Basically untouchable. BOY WAS I EVER FUCKING WRONG.
Hey, if you do not have family support or some sort of help- It can happen to anybody.
I am not ashamed anymore. I just want to make sure I am ballin' at 65.
This has been one fucked up fucking experience. Let me tell ya.
What happened? Sounds like a tale that can instruct us.
With you, Bro-- same here.
Here's my story: I've been behind the 8-ball since just-prior to The Great Recession-- forced-relocation and a messy domestic separation (with kid-factor in play). Lost a good-paying job on the career-track and finding myself scrambling for work-- any kind of work. Between relocation expenses, unemployment-expenses (had to cover out-of-pocket because the facts that would support my UC-claim didn't materialize until after statute expired (civil-claim hinging on criminal case, and I, one "victim" of employers who went to prison)), plus child-custody case and resulting child-support. Done. No assets, bad credit-score (child-support is also factored-in to your score). I worked-full time through college to earn a Bachelors, got some help from GI Bill (which had become a sick joke at the time, so I had to take out loans), when working saved as much as I could in savings and a mutual-fund. My student-loans are just another nail in the coffin. Since that time I've returned to community-college twice (out-of-pocket) to "retrain" earning a paralegal certificate and a mechatronics certificate (I can program comupters, then draft and submit pleadings to court requesting that the programers of the back-end propritary software should be casterated).
Point is, you can recover financially in the USA only if you have the resources to do so. It might be friends, it might be family, it might be a fresh-start through bankruptcy (student-loan holders need not apply, oh-- plus court-costs), but if you don't have those resources... Oh, deferments and "Income-sensitve" repayment-plans? I'VE BEEN THERE, AND IT"S ALL BULLSHIT!!! GOVERNMENT MAKES $$$ HELPING THE BANKS SQUEEZE FEES AND PENALITIES OUT OF YOU FOR ALL YOU'RE WORTH-- DOE and SALLIE MAE ARE NOT ON YOUR SIDE AND COULD GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOU-- THE PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS MESS SHOULD BE HUNTED-DOWN AND KILLED, END OF GODDAMN STORY. But that's just my humble opinion.
You can do "the right thing," but if fate doesn't go your way you're fucked-for-life: kids, these Millenials, are told college, higher-ed is the key to a better life, but take it from me-- if you have to borrow money to go there, it's not worth the risk.
Sorry for the rant-- trying to forewarn and vent at the same time.
Listen,.
(just kidding)
The lesson slowly being deployed worldwide is a good one:
Don't hoard/save credit. Credits in the (to the) bank are a waste. Spend that money ...err credit... on real assets not virtual assets in the monetary plane.
The real lesson is to balance the budget.....clearly we're not there yet.
Given what Hussman explained, the expected 10 year real return on money in the bank, treasuries, and stocks is negative. Why would one want to save?
Exactly. Why would one want to save *credit*. Convert that money into a real asset and save that as a reserve for yourself.
I guess that is gold and silver's future. When it starts to sink in that no financial product has a positive real return and that even the safe haven of government bonds will have a significant negative return, it then makes sense to buy a non-productive asset like a corrosion resistant precious metal. Like stated below, dark ages.
Well, buying shit at Walmart and Ikea isn't a very good investment either. Whatever you haul home from either of those stores is worth pennies on the dollar a year later.
Excellent Tools are an investment as well! So are these: https://comparegoldprices.com/ or these: https://comparesilverprices.com/
How successful you are depends on how close you live to the counterfeiters on Wall Street.
-Education has nothing to do with it
-How hard you work has nothing to do with it
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to befriend a Wall - Street counterfeiter at all costs to secure victory.
The banking and finance sector has turned the land desolate, your best bet is to hover around the ivory towers of crime at the pinnacle of finance and eat the scraps.
Lets put it this way, when the primary form of income for women aged 19~ 28 is whoring themselves out for digital tokens stripping online, you know that generation has been robbed of their inheritance.
All the laws that have been passed in the past 30 years have been anti-millennial, laws designed to prevent a millennial from starting a business or entering a field at all costs, by artificially raising the barriers to entry and the costs to over-come those barriers.
Why? because the bankers need obedient demoralized workers, cheap labor to run their hamburgler stands.
The collapse was planned, it was an inside job.
Why? because the bankers need obedient demoralized workers, cheap labor to run their hamburgler stands.
Who will be buying hamburgers from those hamburger stands?
The Why is more sinister than that.
"How successful you are depends on how close you live to the counterfeiters on Wall Street. Education has nothing to do with it.How hard you work has nothing to do with it"
I am disagreeing on this. Picking the right Education and the right career path does make a difference. I done reasonably well, and I have no ties to Wall Street or any connection to Banking/Finance/etc.
"All the laws that have been passed in the past 30 years have been anti-millennial, laws designed to prevent a millennial from starting a business or entering a field at all costs"
Thats not true, since I know several Millennials that have successful businesses that they started (and not connected to Finance or Wallst.) . The issue is that Millennials have adopted an entitlement mentality as they been taught in the Public school system that they can not lose (ie everyone is a winner). The Public schools have dumbed down the education in or to raise test schools (since Gov't mandated test score metrics instead of providing applicable education to fufill a 21st century workforce).
The Tech Revolution of the past 20 years has created an enormous amount of gadget distractions. Millennials could also be dubbed "Generation distracted". Cell phones have been a terrible influence on the Millennials. I have yet to visit a business with Millennial employees that don't have there eyes on their smartphone, or texting away. How possibly can they focus on the jobs tasks when they constantly spend 15 to 20 minutes an hour fiddling with thier smartphones?
That said, The world has some enormous challenges: Resource deleption (Energy, Seafood, Water) & enormous public and private debt. On top of that, the world is once again run by mad luntics just itching to start another world war. Its unlikely that that economy will ever recover now that all of the cheap oil is nearly gone. Pundits will argue that we can replace 140 years of infrastructure designed for cheap fossile fuels with renewables with in 5 to 10 years. I disagree. It would take 30 to 40 years to replace it, and with in 10 years Oil and Gas production will be in double digit decline (ie to late to get started). In the next decade the world is going to plunged in an era of declining energy resources which is going to cut the economy and reduce living standards. For the millennials and Gen-X not already on the path to self-reliance, it very likely to be a very morbid and destitute future.
I am quite confident there are plenty of nails left for the coffin. The Fed/Banks wont stop until the bottom 90% are their serfs.
It takes a big coffin to bury a nation.
Careful with that nailgun Eugene.
"mostlyly went to her social life and travel, [Emily Turner] says: a trip to Central America, a wedding in Southern California, a bachelorette party in Austin, Texas, trips to Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C., to see friends, another bachelorette party in Austin."
Unable to save or unwilling?
She should try having a couple kids, too, for that "immediate gratification". Having kids is a GREAT way to save money.
Yea and just put them in the car and watch as the mother goes crazy.
Shit....do not give her any ideas! We already have enough breeders.
Somebody wake me up when we can get loans with negative interest rates OK?
You are the one lending money to the banks and politicos at negative rates.
WAKE UP!
Wake up call, hedge funds get money at .25% and loan it out at up to 50%, who needs to go negative with that margin?
In Russia, Banks pay interest on your money. In the USSA, You pay banks to hold your money! (ie Negative interest rates).
http://russia.deposits.org/&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&sa=U&ei=DuxgVKnaJ4PasASX64Dw...
2 Year 8.70%
1 year 8.60%
6 Mo. 8.30%
Tokens are scarce and life is short.
Its logical captain.
But doesn't every young generation have negative savings and take on debt (car, cc, mtg) until they really start earning something? If you have 100K in student loan debt you are poor with negative savings from the jump before you go get a Chevy clunker loan.
And never mind the home clunks.
"until they really start earning something?"
What's this 'earning something' you speak of?
yeah, build savings so she and her cronies can steal the value of it through fraud
The Federal Reserve promotes financial recklessness. They keep pushing for infinite debt.
The Government also says go out and spend, you can depend on us for food, healthcare and welfare money.
SAVINGS = OVER-PRODUCTION
Who is overproducing output and what output is being overproduced?
Except for defense industry, I can't think of any.
Savings =/= Over-production
Savings = Excess production = Progress
Negative savings = Excess consumption = Dark ages
no objection
Response: shrieks of horror and name calling by Krugmann/Obama/Reid/Pelosi types. How dare you make accurate statements.
Savings= Surplus.
Hedonic adjustment = -roast beef /+ dogfood=savings.
Savings + - interest = -savings.
They cut interest rates to nothing, then are surprised no one bothers to save? Theyre not this stupid, they designed it so there's no point in saving they want it all going to retail spending. If anyone is saving its in a mattress.
1 Oz Gold/Silver rounds and/or bars. Just saying... Banks Suck! Nuff said.
Guns are a great investment too!
Agreed. Why California, et al, are trying to ban bullets.
Long term, maybe, but I know plenty of people who bought a bunch of that shit towards the end of 12 and beginning of 2013 who paid close to double what the guns they bought cost now. Same with ammo, that shit costs close to half what it did a couple years ago, at least here.
Serious question, since student loans are guaranteed by the government why should the interest rate be more than one or two percent?
when they say "save" they mean "borrow and spend".
Looking at millennials handle money with both hands, who can't wait for their politics -- Kunt Kardashian 2020.
What could possibly go wrong with the populars -- just ask Russia and China. Millennial's children are what's for breakfast, already committed to death and/or servitude, Inc.
But, but, but the Boomers "couldn't see it coming," so that makes culpability moot.
"I don't need bank account. I have Facebook."
Breakout the Champagne at the FED!
Even if they could save, it would go down in value with the high inflation tax and no interest to speak of paid on those savings, so what's the point!
Coincidentally, this also happens to be about the real rate of return on a typical fund of Treasury Securities after correcting for inflation and taxes.
What a deal. You can invest in your country today, and when you’re 65 you will have half of the purchasing power of your original investment.
Does anyone really expect millennials to save under these Fed distorted market circumstances? Perhaps millennials aren’t as dumb as we think.
Who needs your savings when they can print.
Its all bullshit.
It was also a hell of a lot easier to save when gas prices plummeted towards $1 per gallon in 2009 versus this reinflated nonsense funneling massive price increases into groceries and energy.
Several hundred dollars a month lost just to inflation alone adds up.
Feudalism FOR THE WIN!
People are only squealing because now the western govts are turning on its own people as rest of the world hasn't got much left to extract.
Millennial here.
I was fortunate enough to have group of 4-5 close friends, all of whom were wide awake through most of my twenties. I'm talking about a tight knit circle of learned individuals. We all knew that this whole thing was coming down around us, and as a result, some became extremely cynical, to the point of developing addictions, etc.
Yet another hidden cost associated with the leviathan, is the “fuck it” attitude that some can adopt. There are a lot of intelligent, liberty-oriented Millennials out there, that are just riding this out until the system collapses under it's own weight.
How many of you voted for Obama and/or Obama-like policies?
Wow. Yet another shining example of what the ZH userbase has devolved into: a mind soaked by television and Rush Limbagh, capable of mustering only the weakest of arguments.
You don't get it, do you? The damage was done long before Obama.Wake up.
While I agree that Millennials by in large are statists, through and through, this is no different than any other preceding generation. We're mired in the compounding legal bureaucracy and fraud that slowly grew on everyone's watch.
Good for you for forming a tight-knit group of friends to discuss (and more) your futures. Your general assessment seems correct, that life ahead of you isn't one of Jeffersonian liberty. Still, could it be thatevery generation is NOT equally statist, that yours, most recently, is exceptionally blinkered?
After the depression, in the era of FDR, many scared americans ran into the arms of big government. But values were different then -- taking from the govt was stigmatized. During WWII, too, people were more statist, but, of course, they were worried that they may not survive as a country or as individuals. Give them some slack.
And, now, your generation has embraced Obama who has to be the most statist president since FDR. Yes, yes, Bush was bad -- agreed -- but Obama's internationalist and authoritarian mindset and his willingness to use/abuse government is exponentially more dangerous.
I think that's why the commenter above wondered if you voted for O. It wasn't an insult, just a longer-term view of politics that rightly -- in my opinion -- castigates the younger sorts for swooning over the latest incarnation of a dictator-lite.
I think I wrongly gave him the benefit of the doubt regarding his inductive reasoning ability. Based on my remarks and usage of words like "awake", I assumed that it would be obvious that I wasn't a proponent of Soetoro.
It's difficult to cut them any slack. Running to the state out of fear (that the state itself created) is never an acceptable answer.
I do agree with you however, the younger generation is often associated with an authoritarian yearning. A Millennial authoritarian is an interesting specimen. They don't hold any doctrines of their own, everything comes from Hollywood or Madison Ave.
But not all Millennials are destroyers.
Last time I checked, Ron Paul's campaign was mostly millennials. That's why Ron Paul got criticized by the MSM and the GOP because young "naive" voters made up most of his support.
Speaking of "internationalists", I wonder how the Obamatron is doing with those meetin's in Asia (11/10 thru 11/12)...
Word. This whole millenial = Obama meme is so overplayed and not constructive at all. The country as a whole has steadily marched towards statism and it happens that our generation is during a time when the red/blue pendulum is swinging to the left. People seem to happily forget that one of the largest cohorts of support for Ron Paul was the youth vote.
We could play the whole boomer = John McCain meme too, but that is moot.
It's the big banks, stupid!
Wow. An ignorant ZH millennial (cgbspender) making incorrect assumptions about people who know the difference between capitalism and socialism. Personally I don't watch TV nor do I listen to radio talk shows. But nice try. Millennials: Keep voting socialist and see where it gets you: wealthy if in the government or have government connections. Poor otherwise.
You actually thought that the question beginning with "how many of you" was singular and directed at you personally? Please take an English class.
As if voting for Romney or McCain would somehow change things? The better question is how many of them voted at all?
Echo.
Hang in there kid. I'm a college professor, so unlike the majority of the angry fucks on this board, I know there are a lot of good apples in the barrel -- I see them every day. There are always going to be opportunites for those who are willing to work hard and open their eyes to reality. You can't change the times you are living in, however you can change your reactions to it. Surround yourself with like-minded people and keep plugging away.
Great to hear.
Your group will be the only ones left being able to rebuild, if you haven't become clinical depressed before it collapses. Not sure how much I will be able to help, but I will for sure not throw any sticks between your legs then (old X'er here.)
Yes, it is just so unfair that you and your friends were the first human beings ever born in all of history who did not have a perfect life handed to them. At least you all could pull yourselves together enough and summon the strength to develop addictions. Standing jaw agape in amazement, one can only wonder from what fount such steely fiber emerges.
I’m sure you and your sad sack buddies wish you had been whelped, for example, in the early 1920s, where in your teen years you could have enjoyed the Great Depression, real breadlines, the dustbowl, no iPhones or internet to let you share your woe-is-us feelings of despair, and then you could have been thrust free of charge on to those beautiful beaches of Normandy or Guadalcanal by your 20s. Those people were sooooo lucky. Any of that generation still alive must envy your internal strength and character, and your cowboy-up spirit.
Or those kids who came to age during the glory years of Jimmy Carter, 18% inflation and gas lines. Wow, some people just had it all. Chevy Vegas and Ford Pintos. Damn, where did all that manufacturing greatness go?
And heck, what would you give to have materialized as a female in rural Bangladesh today, or anytime in the last 5000 years. Damn, that would have been a path to Easy Street.
Guaranteed that all across the world today there are people your age in India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nigeria, Venezuela, Romania, Zimbabwe and a host of other places thanking Krishna and Allah and Buddha and Bokonon that they weren’t born in some developed Western hellhole like you.
A harsh reality lesson from Chindit13 !!! I am just glad I wasn't born when they had to make bricks without straw !!!
/and me thinks the dental plan back then sucked too...
Denial isn't a river in Egypt.
I never knew I was a Millennial. I guess I should feel comforted that I have a small but positive net worth.
Oldie but goodie for the millennials:
16 Tons sung by Tennessee Ernie Ford
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PITYbSZZfk
© 1955, on Capitol Records. (capitol, capital, same difference, Bitchez!)
Some people say a man is made outta mud
A poor man's made outta muscle and blood
Muscle and blood and skin and bones
A mind that's a-weak and a back that's strong
You load sixteen tons, what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
I was born one mornin' when the sun didn't shine
I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mine
I loaded sixteen tons of number nine coal
And the straw boss said "Well, a-bless my soul"
You load sixteen tons, what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
I was born one mornin', it was drizzlin' rain
Fightin' and trouble are my middle name
I was raised in the canebrake by an ol' mama lion
Cain't no-a high-toned woman make me walk the line
You load sixteen tons, what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
If you see me comin', better step aside
A lotta men didn't, a lotta men died
One fist of iron, the other of steel
If the right one don't a-get you
Then the left one will
You load sixteen tons, what do you get
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store
They're the only generation cohort doing it right. In today's world of financial repression the correct response is to load up on debt and screw the savings account!
Anyone who adds to savings are just setting themselves up to be sheared repeatedly via NIRP.
Has anyone seen this video yet - Skip to 7 minutes for the action to start...
http://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/ireland-s-ida-boss-faces-biza...
Lol.
Everthing you need to know about CNBC.
Well, that's embarrassing.
This is why Social Security is for YOUNG people not old. It's so that you don't have to save for the future. It's always why the younger generations support this garbage. They know they have half the millenials by the balls. You can tell they're living paycheck-to-paycheck.
Scary... I'm 32 and I save 25% of my annual income. I guess this is the "exploiting" stage of my life. Where I get rich by accumluating savings over time, then when I become rich it must because I stole it or exploited someone else.
Pay yourself first: "Uncommon Cents, Benjamin Franklin's Secrets to Achieving Personal Financial Freedom," Lynn G. Robbins, ISBN: 0-939817-06-3
Hard times make for new opportunities.
Chances are before the crash you didn't know anyone on food stamps. Now you probably do.
Chances are they need cash for booze, so you give them $0.50 to the dollar for their EBT card and go shopping.
Bam. 50% return on your buck and everyone is happy.
They should all be working out and preparing for the revolution. I'm not going to save their asses.
There are so many fallacies in the statement above by President Select O-bong-o, it boggles the mind.
First, the number of millennials starting their own businesses, 50%, gimme a break. Some of the obvious choices:
Drug dealer
Prostitute
Pan-handler
Hacker
Slacker/Gamer
Dishwasher
Maid
Serf
Bum
Then, O-bong-hitter deluxe says there's legislation to cap student loans at 10% of income (probably after-tax income).
OK, let's break it down:
20% Fed income tax
5% State income tax
8% FICA, Medicare/medicaid
10% student loan (complete waste of money that could have gone toward savings/entrepreneurship)
30% housing (roughly what most are paying in rent, though a select few may have an affordable mortgage)
That's 73%. Let's say the lucky millennial makes 30K per year, gross of $576.92.
That 73% takes $421.15, leaving the hope of America with $155.77 per week to spend on food, clothing, car, gas, insurance, soap, booze, weed, paying off CC debt, and whatever else one can squeeze out of that paltry sum.
Good luck saving even -2%. I'd venture to guess that most 20-30 year-olds are upside down to the tune of about 30-50K negative net worth.
Keep slaving. Serf's UP!
I have noticed that the panhandler industry (Big Panhandler) has had a marked increase along my commute since the Dear Leader Obama era began.
It's the perfect start-up opportunity for budding entrepreneurs.
Low overhead and a high EROI.
So, your commute takes you past Wall Street?
Rent is closer to 50% than 30%... at least in NYC.
30% housing is so 1990s!
"And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack..."
Let's not forget sales tax which averages 7% across the US. Then you have big cities/ counties adding to that.
the "sharing" economy = poor as dirt, and sharing the misery...
Keep voting for the leftists, kiddies...
Oh, I am saving- it's just not showing up on a monthly statement anywhere.
"...That compares with a positive savings rate of about 3% for those age 35 to 44, 6% for those 45 to 54, and 13% for those 55 and older."
Compares to what, exactly? Current, or when said generations were each under 35?
Lies, damn lies, statistics. I'm suspicious. Saying that people's saving rate goes up as they get older is calling the sky blue.
Fuck dude.
You bring logic into arguments and analysis.
Sorry.
I know that makes it almost off-topic in most threads.
Umm.
The sky is blue.
The kids move out, the savings go up. Unfortunately, the investment in pharmacuticals go up as well.
I have shit I didn't even know I had in me going bad.