Americans Are Saving More

Personal Finance

Americans Are Saving More

19th July 2009

Interesting to note is that the BEA which is the Bureau of Analysis released information that US citizens have saved more money in the first quarter of this year, almost 6%. This makes sense to me in the face of an economic recession and the loss of so called job security. However my question is what are you saving for? Are you saving for an emergency fund? Are you keeping your money in savings in case you lose your job or are you saving simply because you see the need for a savings account amidst the economic crisis?

Personal Finance In the face of the global economic recession a lot of Americans have become unemployed either through taking a voluntary seperation package like I did, or simply the employer could no longer afford to stay in business and therefore had to force people into unemployment. Whatever the situation, millions of Americans had not anticipated the collapse of our financial industry and certainly not the collapse of the companies we so diligently worked for. Perhaps this recession has been a wake-up call for many people because my argument has always been that Americans were a people surviving on credit. In other words we had way too much debt on average per household. This is because while still in college students can get loans, credit cards etc. so when one graduates, you are already in a mountain on debt and starting with a negative balance sheet has never been good for anyone.

I personally hope that the figure will increase and that Americans will continue on the path of savings and reducing personal debt. If you have not yet read my article on where you can store your money and gain interest on your savings, read the article on this site on the topic of banking and saving to get an idea of the options available to you. Below is a chart taken from the Bureau of Analysis showing US Savings Rates over the past nine years.

"If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as getting." - Benjamin Franklin

Comments (7):

Tristan Says: I fortunately have not lost my job yet but I am saving more as an emergency fund | 07.19.2009 |

Doug Says: I am still trying to settle my debts which are now under control and then I will start definately saving money for future use | 07.19.2009 |

Karen Says: I have learned to save more and spend less money too | 07.19.2009 |

Jen Says: Yes I agree Kev the recession is a wake-up call about living in debt | 07.19.2009 |

Nathan Says: Interesting you mention Kev that job security no longer exists. Now it has been proven | 07.19.2009 |

Jasmine Says: Looking at the chart we ought to learn to save even more since we will never know when the next recession will strike again | 07.19.2009 |

Bill Says: Interesting information | 07.19.2009 |

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Americans Are Saving More

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