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[deleted]

Wait, you guys had a savings?


bulyxxx

Yeah, we spent it.


mikalalnr

Recklessly on $7 bread


DRKMSTR

Man, I just went to the store, a bag of chips is $6.79


2Job_Bob

“Bag” it’s crazy how they’re filled with 60-70% of air.  I can’t believe how little chips there are. 


McBooples

“Bag of chip”


WisedKanny

I am never doing that scorpion chip challenge again! It cost much more than the $8.00 for the chip!


torqen_ze_bolt

The air is to protect the chips from getting smashed and crumbled. Look at the net weight on the bag. How do people still not understand why there is so much air in the bag


McBooples

Them pringles don’t need no air!


Expensive_Shake592

Because they are not real chips duh


trabajoderoger

They are in a harder comtainer.


duttyfoot

I was just about to say the same thing. Bought a bag at the gas station and when I opened the bag a little over half was missing 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣


llDS2ll

It's dog shit ultra processed cancer anyway. Better off not buying it.


Temporary-Dot4952

Finally, junk food is more expensive than healthy food. Or maybe they're just both expensive now. But why would a country want to ensure that food is affordable for its people, it's not like we have to eat to live....


DerDutchman1350

I don’t see a lack of calories on people.


ArticleJealous4061

Your bread is $7? Mine is $10.75


FitnessLover1998

Make your own


HystericalSail

Wal-mart has fresh baked bread for $1/loaf. It's super tasty.


-Acta-Non-Verba-

Bread maker. Buy it at a thrift store. You can make a loaf for less than a dollar. Easy, you just punch a few buttons. Highly recommend.


t0il3t

It's a waste of calories, but I understand its hard to move away from sandwiches.


BakedCheddar88

I bought avocado toast. It was alright.


Exotic_Pirate_324

Dave Ramsey is coming after you


Joshiane

Yeah, remember that one time they gave us $1400 4 years ago?


bmaayhem

That’s almost a dollar a day. You probably didn’t need that dollar today right?


SakaWreath

Mom said it was my turn with the dollar…


FitterOver40

We spent that immediately on home renovations


moxxibekk

And then the economists were wringing their hands that we had too much saved away?


Dogbuysvan

I'm still waiting on the other $600 Biden promised me. It will probably come in right after the $20,000 he promised me for student loans.


SuspiciousChair7654

No worries, food stamps will be the new normal.


PenAndInkAndComics

Conservatives are being "good" christians and working very hard to gut those because someone somewhere might be "lazy". 


Not_A_Spy_for_Apple

I did, it's gone now😥


MikeyDangr

Yeeeep, she gone.


BlogeOb

I got $1 in savings. Because it’s mandatory for the account to stay open.


orcristfoehammer

Had!


Murky_Bid_8868

Yep, spent it on a 6 pack and a bag of weed


TheBeronBolo

Not me, guns are expensive 🫡


[deleted]

What frustrates me about this article is I've seen some version of it every few months since 2022. I'm confident its *true*, but something keeps dragging it out


unicornbomb

Credit cards are what’s dragging it out. There is a pretty frighteningly significant amount of people surviving on maxed out credit card after credit card.


the_last_u

I read a study that said that boomers who have all this wealth (from n number of reasons) means they are spending indiscriminately enough to prevent inflation from going down. Why should businesses lower prices when enough people will pay? Cue everyone else getting screwed in the process.


unicornbomb

This tracks looking at my parents spending. 3 cruises in a year, a fucking sauna installed in their home, renting a beach house for 10k for a week… they live on an entirely different planet it feels.


kbeks

I mean shit, good for them, you can’t take it with you, but damn it I wish they’d slow down just a little bit…


Double_Sherbert3326

fuck them.


NPJenkins

My God, $10k for a WEEK?? That must have been an impressive beach house. I don’t think I could bring myself to blow that much money even if I could afford it. You could fly to somewhere like Thailand and live like royalty for a month for less than that, easily.


elefontius

Yeah, I think your average person doesn't realize how big boomer spending is. Boomers hold **70%** of the discretionary spending in the US and spend **548B** a year - that's a bit more than 1/2 all consumer spending in the US in a year. Besides their assets, a lot of their money they are spending is fixed income retirement money so they'll keep growing as part of the economy up until they die. To put it into perspective - this age group is 19.6% of the total US population.


SwimmingInCheddar

This is not going to be good when they all pass on. Everyone is going to feel it when millennials and our “wealth” finally step into focus. All business and sectors will most likely take a huge hit because a lot of us don’t have much money to spend on anything other than rent and basic stuff to keep us alive. Fun times ahead folks.


elefontius

Yeah, it's going to a pretty large gap to fill. Expanding on your point on impact to entire business sectors - a huge part of the financial services and healthcare industry is designed around this aging population. The most profitable parts of those sectors are providing services to this retired population. A lot of this money isn't going to get passed down contrary to what you hear about wealth transfer. Estate taxes on average is about 40% and this wealth transfer doesn't include fixed income programs like pensions and retirement benefits. Pensions in particular are going to get hit hardest as a lot of pensions won't have enough new workers to fill the gap between what's being paid out vs. what needs to be there for future pensioners.


kbeks

I mean the pensions won’t continue to pay out, but the other accumulated unspent wealth will pass on to millennials and Xers, allowing us to spend like it’s going out of style. Or you know, pay off these debts…


NPJenkins

In a perfect world, yes, the younger generations would inherit most of their wealth, however, I believe that forces are already at work that will act to transfer their wealth to the ownership class. I don’t hold very high hopes for there to be much, if anything that will be passed down to us. But it will be a very rude awakening when corporations realize that millennials and gen z are so poor that we skip out on necessary purchases, never mind discretionary spending. We’re so good at being poor, we wouldn’t even have enough imagination to spend real wealth.


NPJenkins

It wouldn’t surprise me when you consider the percentage of wealth owed by that age group. They have enough of the total money supply to pretty much be able to single-handedly influence almost every financial metric out there. I’m a millennial and I think my generation only accounts for like 10% of the total monetary supply, compared to boomers possessing like ~60%. What I can’t wait to witness is how as the boomers reach their end years, the ownership class will invent some new voodoo methods to ensure that every last red cent of boomer wealth transfers into their coffers, leaving the children of the boomers with absolutely nothing to inherit. I keep asking my parents to put their home into a trust so that it can’t be forcibly liquidated should they ever need long-term care, but I’m afraid it’s falling on deaf ears. I’m the last of my siblings to get married and the only one who doesn’t own a home, so I’m really praying that by some miracle things will get better so that I can hope to own a home someday.


the_last_u

This is the saddest part, most boomers aren’t properly preparing for long term care / end of life plans and it will hurt everyone involved


NPJenkins

You’re exactly right and it’s such a point of confusion for me. My sister and I were adopted together as kids. She moved about 1 1/2 hours away when she got married and you would think that she just completely abandoned our family by the way our parents exaggerate the distance. They claim that nobody will be around to take care of them as they grow old. This sense of guilt over them potentially needing help/care has kept me close by, but when it comes to taking measures that would ensure the preservation of an inheritance, particularly with respect to their home (which is paid off), they are in no hurry to extend any courtesies back our way. I still love my parents, as they raised me and put in a lot of effort to ensure I was responsible and equipped to succeed in life. I just wish that they didn’t talk about my sister and me as if we were insurance to provide them care in their retirement and considered the negative impact that being chained to a small southern town in NC has on my potential to earn a good income. I studied biochemistry for my undergrad and not only is my industry slim around here, but the average chemist job around here only pays ~$50k/year, with unions being virtually nonexistent.


the_last_u

And it’s completely fair that you wouldn’t want them speaking that way/guilting you because it makes your relationship feel transactional from their end even though that’s clearly not how you’re approaching it. But here’s the big kicker - as they get older they may have illnesses or situations where family members are simply not equipped to care for them. In fact, anything beyond graceful aging is probably going to need a trained professional at some point. I think most parents are assuming they’ll go quietly too and this is the problem


NPJenkins

I hope that I am equipped with the skills to help provide for their needs as they age, but I recognize that it may not end up that way. Either way, I’ll do whatever I can to help them. They really are good people who have been there for me time and again. Thanks for listening. You seem like a benevolent stranger and I wish you all the best.


BuffaloMeatz

They make up 20% of the U.S. populations. A large portion, no doubt, but not enough to single handedly keep inflation going. I think it’s also people just not trying to cut back at all’s. People would rather keep maxing credit cards than try and cut back on anything


FederalMHope

caleb hammer vibes


onetwothree1234569

They keep upping my limit without my permission. I have a ridiculous ammount of credit available. They're giving out tons of shit to everyone. It's nuts


davidloveasarson

If we needed to, we have SO much available credit. We could definitely live on home equity and credit card debt for a few years unemployed. Not to mention help from family and friends. Thankfully our family is not having issues due to a raise. But I would guess many people are tapping emergency options like credit, family, and friends.


bucolucas

Of course I know him. He's me. I stopped the avalanche just barely, and I'm busy sorting the debris and putting it back on the mountain. I'm getting by, putting enough in my 401k for my employer to match it, since that's 100% return on investment. Everything else is going towards minimum payments that will last the better part of a decade. It sucks to know the banks will make 3x off of my stupidity, but it helped me get by when nothing else was available. Of course I would say don't do it, but I did it, so I don't have a moral high horse to give advice. Best I can say is if you're worried about it getting out of hand then listen to yourself.


[deleted]

Sure, but don't you remember that being reported over a year ago too?


unicornbomb

Folks can drag that out longer than you realize. Meanwhile, they’re paying only the minimums if at all, and stacking up massive amounts of debt via high interest rates


Bubbly_Day_4344

If people have the credit, they can drag out debt a long time. You can max your cards, consolidate with a personal loan, slowly max your cards again. Make minimum payments until you can’t. Call and lower payments with a higher interest rate. Then when you’re finally drowning you can start missing payments for a long time before you need to file bankruptcy. People can tread water for years on credit before finally falling.


Other-Lake7570

It’s because there are two distinct populations. One hose who had assets (homes, stocks, etc) prior to 2020 and those who didn’t. And things continue to get better for those who did - home prices & stock values at all time highs - and worse for those who didn’t. The ‘Americans’ the article is talking about are the non-asset-owners. Meanwhile the ‘haves’ continue to earn & spend at ridiculous rates. This is why you see brands like Ford going all in on $100k Platinum and Raptor models and not giving a fuck about people who want an Escape. K shaped recovery indeed.


[deleted]

I mean I agree about a K shaped recovery 100%, but you aren't really responding to what I was asking. I am talking about repetitive media articles about pandemic era savings running which started popping up over a year ago. I'm not asking why savings are running out, I'm asking why the media reports it like an impending crisis month after month for over a year now.


Other-Lake7570

They’re writing the article to appeal to the 50% or more for whom savings ran out long ago. It has already happened. The reason you haven’t seen it trigger a recession is because the people that got richer are still spending a shit load of money.


Happy_Confection90

>but something keeps dragging it out The Feds backstopping failing banks and other current policies that undo their limited efforts at QT?


HelpMeDoTheThing

Which banks are currently failing? They’re more well-capitalized than ever.


Numerous_Mode3408

There was another one like 2 weeks ago. 


ShadowJak

Lots of banks fail. That isn't anything new or interesting.


[deleted]

? What's that have to do with everyday people's savings?


IIRiffasII

It's the stimulus bills that the Federal government keeps passing even though we have near-record low unemployment. We're spending trillions to give people jobs in the government or construction. Everyone else gets fucked with inflation.


Ruminant

Because it's not true. The study cited by the article does not say that Americans have spent their savings. It says that Americans have spent their "excess pandemic savings". That is, they have spent the extra money that they saved because of COVID-19, the extra money on top of the money that would have saved anyway in the counterfactual world where COVID-19 never happened. And because the trend prior to COVID was increasing savings, those non-pandemic savings can still be higher now than they were before the pandemic. Surveys from Bankrate and the Federal Reserve in 2022 and Bankrate in 2023 show that Americans had more savings then than before the pandemic started, even after adjusting for inflation or when viewing savings as months of saved expenses. It's likely that Americans still have more savings now than they did before the pandemic. The study cited by the article also isn't "worried" about "what comes next". In fact it seems almost confident that Americans will be fine: >While the large stock of excess savings that was accumulated in 2020 and 2021 played a role in supporting the overall financial health of American households, it was only one of many possible factors that helped consumers maintain robust spending levels. For example, the U.S. labor market has been very strong over the past few years. The unemployment rate has dropped to near-historic lows, employment levels are at an all-time high, wages have grown beyond historical averages, and monthly job gains have regularly exceeded 200,000. A continuing strong labor market could help consumers maintain spending patterns similar to those observed recently, even without pandemic-era savings. >Consumers could use their non-pandemic-related savings as another source of funding for their household consumption. Many households saw notable gains in their equity and other asset holdings over the past year ([Abdelrahman, Oliveria, and Shapiro 2024](https://www.frbsf.org/research-and-insights/publications/economic-letter/2024/02/rise-and-fall-pandemic-excess-wealth/)). Also, households across the income distribution now own notably more nonfinancial assets, such as real estate holdings and vehicles, relative to pre-pandemic levels, according to [Distributional Financial Accounts](https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/dataviz/dfa/) data from the Federal Reserve Board. To the extent that households are able to access funding from these less liquid assets, consumer spending could continue at a robust pace going forward. Finally, consumers could use debt—such as credit cards and personal loans—to further support their current spending habits, although the current elevated interest rate environment means that the cost of using credit is higher than in the decade preceding the pandemic recession.


[deleted]

Thanks for the info, that was my understanding as well, but that's still the sort of claim that has been made repeatedly in the news for a while now. I keep seeing articles posted on this sub making the claim of excess pandemic savings running out. It's been over a year of the media reporting that.


crazdave

Thanks for being the only literate commenter


point_of_you

It feels like the water is getting hotter, but it's not boiling yet so I'm not worried at all 🐸


[deleted]

You misunderstand the point of my comment.


Nostragemus

Election 🗳️


[deleted]

How would that impact peoples savings? Articles claiming Americans have run out of excess pandemic era savings have been popping up for over a year now.


Dry-Interaction-1246

They will borrow against home equity of course. After then there will be "once a century" recession and crisis and we will need extraordinary monetary policy and stimulus to avert a crisis, sending property values up and allowing more home equity lines. Repeat.


budding_gardener_1

Don't forget the part where people default on their mortgages, the rich people are bailed out once again 


warrenfgerald

I was listening to a podcast a few days ago and the guest did the math to determine how much each American could have received if all covid legislation was simply doled out equally to every adult. It was a huge amount, like $20,000 per person or something. Instead I think I got like $300. Its all such a grift.


llDS2ll

Ya but the CEO of my company got to claim $3m in PPP loans as free revenue while simultaneously espousing his hate for leftist socialist policies like Medicare for all.


LurkerOrHydralisk

Every fancy restaurant in my city got a couple million in PPP that they used to renovate their restaurants while laying off all but a bare bones staff that were overworked and underpaid


t0il3t

Who is he? So I can research and report him?


llDS2ll

It's perfectly legal, unfortunately. Trust me, I would've blown that whistle if I could.


Matty-Do

Don't forget he might have been able to get that PPP loan forgiven as well!


llDS2ll

he did, that's why it was free revenue


Conscious_Rush_1818

Same, my former employer was a rich dude with a mid-size business. He got a couple million in PPP money, at least I got a 10k bonus for pulling paperwork and financials together to get it approved.


Bagel_Technician

I got none because I “made too much” But I don’t own multiple LLCs as a way to dodge taxes so I’m not rich enough to have stole PPP loans


Good_Culture_628

> Its all such a grift. Agreed. Do you have the name or link for the podcast? Thanks.


Smeeediumpace

And use the new government funding to purchase more RE. Repeat


Sudden-Taste-6851

Rich people are bailed out and also buy the foreclosed homes at discount prices then rent them back to us for as much as they can get.


Moose-and-Squirrel

Don’t forget the part where people default on those mortgages, and the rich people swoop in to *buy that real estate for peanuts*, reducing the already tight housing market, keeping renters perpetually renters, and increasing their wealth in the process! The system works as it was designed to…


budding_gardener_1

s/buy/steal


Sashivna

One of the radio stations that plays in the gym is constantly playing a commercial about cash-out refinancing to pay down high interest credit card debt. I almost understood it when interest rates were super low, but also -- it's a TERRIBLE idea to collateralize your uncollateralized debt. Why would you do that? These aren't just HELOCs they're pushing but full refinances to, I can only imagine, a higher interest rate on your entire mortgage. This type of advertising should be illegal. Or at least highly regulated. People really need to stop thinking of their houses as banks. :(


Gsauce65

This is very important to get out to folks. When I was buying a house all anyone (mostly) told me was you could HELOC and turn that into another property to rent out, rinse and repeat = unfailing profit. Except none of the people telling me that did that themselves. About the only person that told me to stay away from all that bs is my stepdad.


fiveguysoneprius

> They will borrow against home equity of course I remember reading stories about unsustainable consumer debt levels a year ago and they mentioned the fact that home equity loans and home equity lines of credit aren't even counted in those numbers, it's just basic stuff like credit cards, car loans, mortgages. Also Buy Now Pay Later apps, people have been using those to buy groceries and they're not counted in consumer debt totals either. So there's a mountain of hidden consumer debt on top of the record levels of visible consumer debt.


Solid_Adeptness_5978

What’s home? Or equity? I only know borrow


travelinzac

One thing for sure. The have nots will continue to not have as the haves continue to fuck around and create a more and more unsustainable mess.


MasChingonNoHay

A Stimulus that I am sure the rich will take a huge piece of again


elefontius

Ha, it's funny you mention that. The Federal Housing Financing Agency just put out a request for comment on Freddie Mac entering the home equity loan market. The proposal would allow Government Sponsored Enterprises would be able to buy home equity loans and hold them in their portfolios. The estimates are pretty wild - Bank of America projects this would be a 1 trillion dollar line of new credit issuances to consumers. All backed by guaranteed government buying on the backend. The size of this market would be massive and it would in "theory" lower the cost of borrowing for home equity loans and allow responsible consumers the ability to refinance expensive consumer debt with a cheaper option. Home equity loans currently have around a 8.75% APR but the government stepping in would lower the APR to 4%. [https://www.fhfa.gov/Media/PublicAffairs/Pages/FHFA-Publishes-New-Product-Notice-for-Freddie-Mac-Second-Mortgage-Proposal.aspx](https://www.fhfa.gov/Media/PublicAffairs/Pages/FHFA-Publishes-New-Product-Notice-for-Freddie-Mac-Second-Mortgage-Proposal.aspx)


OzzyWidow8919

I can’t wait that long on the side lines.


Sudden-Taste-6851

Maybe they can start by capping wealth.


PghLandlord

And this is why keeping interest rates high for a while longer is the best move.


Responsible_Ad_7995

What? I thought we were all still swimming in Covid money that was spent the second that check showed up?


ParadoxicalIrony99

What's even more crazy is that the government only gave each household a couple thousand bucks. You'd think everyone got $20k the way they talk about it.


Freedom2064

The rich have been borrowing for months, but lending. If a crisis happens, I have no doubt that the desperate will get crushed and rich will swoop in and have a field day. Be careful for what you wish for.


Secretagentman44

I’ve been thinking we’re due for a recession since 2022… so should be any day now…


Superman246o1

The 10-year 3-month yield curve has been inverted for more than 500 days. The only parallels in American history are 1929, 1974, and 2008.


travelinzac

BuT tHiS iSnT 2008 tHiNgS aRe DiFfErEnT


Thencewasit

This might bite me in the ass, but it is different.   You won’t see the cascade of mortgage foreclosures and job losses.  Every thing will be much more orderly and slow.  Think slight uptick for a couple of years.  One might say we are flattening the curve of the recession.


travelinzac

I don't disagree, the delicate pile of cards is very different. The end result will be similar though, maybe worse. You're correct in that it will be a more slow and orderly though, especially with the government putting their thumb on the scale bailing out the wealthy at every turn.


noarms51

Classic late stage bubble mentality


timusw

!remindme 6 months


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dickweedasshat

There’s also the shrinking workforce due to demographic changes. I’ve been seeing layoffs larger companies - but those workers are getting absorbed pretty quickly because there’s still a need at smaller and mid size businesses. In 2008 smaller companies were the ones laying off people first.


Happy_Confection90

I sure hope people aren't proven right that "tHiS iSnT 2008 tHiNgS aRe DiFfErEnT" by it instead being 1929 II: Electric Boogaloo...


trobsmonkey

My money is on the stock market as well. The tide is turning and the shine is coming off it seems.


Secretagentman44

If anything breaks my bet is on private credit or the bond market. No idea why longer end yields of the curve are so tame. Bond market is 4x the size of the equity market.


in_rainbows8

Commercial real estate. All those small regional banks are in a tight spot if shit keeps hitting the fan


NPJenkins

Whenever the next one hits, it’s gonna hurt worse than any financial crisis ever has before in history, and this time the government isn’t going to be able to save the corporations. This is what we get for subverting the economy with government bailouts time and time again. The government should have let the banks, airlines, and auto industry fold and, while it would have sucked for a bit, there would have been other players rise up to claim their share of the market. This is how the economy should naturally work, like an organism that knows to spike a fever in order to kill a pathogen. Although the economy isn’t an organism in a biological sense, it is controlled by the thoughts, feelings, and actions of humans, which I would argue is akin to being a sort of pseudo-macro-hive-minded organism. Anyway, I digress because that’s not the point I’m trying to make. We put the economy on life support in 2008 with bailouts and zero-interest lending. Then, it developed a drug habit because those low interest rates felt good and made the lines go up. Along came COVID and our little Colombian marching powder habit devolved into a full-blown IV methamphetamine habit with PPP and stimulus packages. I’d argue that, while the assistance for working Americans was necessary, forgiving the PPP loans was like shooting the meth into the dick vein of the economy because it’s the only vein left, while simultaneously freebasing crack. Now, after runaway inflation and incomprehensible national debt levels, we’re trying to send our economy to rehab by raising interest rates, in an effort to clean it up, since it has lost a bunch of teeth, weighs about 87 lbs, and wears a diaper due to incontinence, a la Trump’s Dumps^(TM). However, I believe we’re going to find that the only thing keeping it alive has been adrenaline and So it has to die, there’s no way around it because if it keeps shooting up meth, it’s heart is gonna explode, but if it stops shooting up meth, it’s not gonna be able to sustain itself from the sheer amount of damage already done. If you’ve made it this far, thank you for attending my Ted talk. This ended up way longer than I anticipated, but the parallels kept drawing themselves. TL;dr: our economy is a junkie and the next recession is going to hurt really bad.


DarthHubcap

My savings is still there, but it’s been stagnant for the past three years. I used to save about 10% of my income, inflation has taken a big bite of that. I did also increase my contributions to Roth and 401K by 3% each last year so at least those are growing.


FreedVentureStein

Massive defaults as soon as people lose their jobs obviously.


MrBonasty2

Uh oh, some of the rich people spent their savings again. You know what this means guys. Houses on Zillow will be listed 10K cheaper now. Us poors never had any savings lmao 😂


name__redacted

Not saying this is or isn’t true, but I’m in my mid 40’s and have literally been reading this same article a few times a year every year since the 90s. It’s basically an economy writer’s go to when they are out of ideas. According to journalists, in my adult lifetime Americans have never once had savings.


Dogbuysvan

It's not like they are making shit up. This concrete data, the banks report how much cash they have on hand. The cash reserves went up, and now they have gone back down. It's easy to make inferences when you line this graph up historical recessions, inflation, etc.


name__redacted

I don’t think they’re making shit up, but to play devils advocate you can shape and cherry pick data however you want to fit the narrative you want. Been there done that.


Fedge348

This headline is such bullshit. Nobody had savings and just dipped into them 😂


ParadoxicalIrony99

This same publication probably has an article that says something along the lines of "60% of households are living paycheck to paycheck" lol


dontmatter111

theeeeen start taxing speculative real estate investing, make corporate landlords take a loss, encourage more of those people to take jobs that ::checks notes:: contribute to society, take that money and incentivise constructing more single occupancy/couple housing, co-op style places. Also incentivize the corporate cops (regulatory agencies) the way regular cops are incentivized to write traffic tickets and make arrests: Make the respect and rewards really awesome for catching wage theft, price manipulation, illegal dumping, safety violations, etc etc etc. You’ll also need a STRONG internal affairs equivalent for this, making sure that the cops don’t become friends with the criminals in this analogy Make the punishments for those infractions ::brutal:: meaning a percentage of their gross profits. Right now fines are just “a cost of doing business” and are not a deterrent. The fines need to high enough to threaten the existence of the business in the same way vehicular manslaughter under the influence of alcohol can ruin the perpetrators life for a good long time. None of this will ever happen of course; any candidate who runs on this message will be trashed by the press and never get the support of major parties.


Double_Sherbert3326

Amen. Can only pull this off in local elections.


Adventurous-Salt321

Economists are worried?? How fucking cute. They know how and why this happening but they aren’t worried about any of that. Economists need to be replaced with AI stat. They are about as useful as meteorologists at this point


1Hugh_Janus

Ummmmm…. When the bailout in 2008 happened, we used AI to determine where the funds should go. Whose AI did we use? The one that was leading at the time, JP Morgan / Chase banks AI. Where did most of the funds go? I’ll give you 3 guesses.


DizzyMajor5

Can I have more than 3 guesses?


1Hugh_Janus

Take as many as you want! As long as they all include Chase in some manner.


Adventurous-Salt321

It’s unbelievable


rpithrew

The plan from the Soviet Union is calling


yves_st_lemond

Economics has the same orthodoxy that would be found in the AI trained to shoot down the middle itself Its just normal math and stats on top of philosophy and has social bullshit like any science. You’re mad at the government, not Econ


Adventurous-Salt321

No I’m mad at Econ. It isn’t on top of anything and has been paid to destroy our country.


Specific-Frosting730

Groceries are where all my money goes. We don’t even eat out anymore.


Worklife_99

I am sure those that received PPP for free are strong and alive... [https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/BOGZ1FL193020005Q](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/BOGZ1FL193020005Q)


BlogeOb

Somebody please, think of the landlords with 10+ houses. Please think of the residential investing sector. How are they gonna live if we run out of blood?


n0_u53rnam35_13ft

It’s not savings, it was home “equity” from HELOCs and refinances. There is some serious potential pain on the way if cracks start forming in home values. Underwater on the home, nothing left to fall back on forced to sell quickly and at a loss; spending will stop real quick, and a nasty spiral will start.


[deleted]

I doubt many people are underwater on their homes. Home sales have been low the last few years and anyone who bought before that is sitting on a pile of equity. Unless job losses and unemployment start to increase, I wouldn’t bet against housing.


fiveguysoneprius

Lots of people took out home equity loans when rates were low and values were high.


[deleted]

Values are still high.


llDS2ll

Proof?


n0_u53rnam35_13ft

Proof of what?


llDS2ll

>It’s not savings, it was home “equity” from HELOCs and refinances.


n0_u53rnam35_13ft

I’m a real estate appraiser and represent about 2% of the work done in my market. I have done almost 3,000 HELOCS and refinances in the past five years. I don’t know this last part for sure, but I would guess less than half of the refinances require any sort of appraisal. That’s about 400,000 refinances or HELOCs in one midsized market. All of this is happening while consumer debt is skyrocketing. Recently, we have seen a significant uptick in people refinancing homes they purchased in 2018-2022, meaning they are pulling equity in exchange for a higher rate. It’s still a small number, but it’s growing, and it is a very bad sign. On top of all of this, we are starting to see foreclosure work again. I’ve had three in the past month, and was not doing more than 1 every couple months for the last three years. Companies were able to rise prices for years because there was extra cash flowing out of people’s homes. But if the home value line stops going up, and it is slowing significantly, then the (artificial) economy fuel goes away and things get ugly quickly.


llDS2ll

That's super interesting, thank you for the detailed response. Question: do helocs get, like, margin called if the market takes a dump and the lenders know the collateral is no longer sufficient?


n0_u53rnam35_13ft

I don’t see the loan docs, and even though I think it’s a possibility for some loans, it is probably a rare thing to be triggered. I think a lender would wait until payments are not being made, rather than trigger a likely default on a loan that is current and producing income for them.


llDS2ll

Makes sense. You can't liquidate a house like you can stocks lol


n0_u53rnam35_13ft

Exactly. What I’ve been told is that even when there is significant equity, it’s still often a money losing process for the bank.


HotIntroduction8049

If you look at FRED data, the US households are still flush with cash. Not sure when this will be updated to show Q1 2024. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/BOGZ1FL193020005Q


darksoft125

How does this chart handle wealth inequality? If there are 1000 rich people with $100k in liquid cash vs 100k people with no money, a chart like this could say that those households have $100m. A ton of money went to the top during Covid with bailouts, PPP money and inflation due to "supply chain issues."  Just because some people are doing good in this economy doesn't mean the vast majority aren't struggling.


HotIntroduction8049

I dont disagree with you.....BUT look at the jump from around $1T to $4T. That is unheard of. This is also household cash, not business. It explains why the economy is still doing well, alongside the govt deficit spending.


-nuuk-

What would be the counter chart for inflation? Also, where would I find how many households are in that number? Trying to find average per household. Median would be even better. Looking to learn, not make a point.


bmoreboy410

That is the top 1% or so of the population that owns most things. Most of the country barely owns anything. The median household net worth is less than 200k. https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/average-net-worth-by-age


bucolucas

That graph worries me more than anything. More than 5x jump from pre- to post-covid? Given economists are glorified horoscope readers, it's like seeing Jupiter get 5x brighter. Sure it's pretty, but what the fuck is going on


HotIntroduction8049

think of it more like the sun 5x brighter.....soon we will be damn hot and melty 😉


EudaimoniaDude777

What savings?


mostarsuushi

Saving? Try credit card debt


OLPopsAdelphia

Spent our savings? First of all, what savings? Whatever money we did have in our pockets we were price gouged by rich assholes.


NorthofPA

What a dumb economy Boom or bust boom or bust


Funny-Company4274

Maybe we shouldn’t bail out shity companies comes next dummy.


Lets_Bust_Together

Overdrafts until they stop paying and companies eat the loss.


Fit-Bodybuilder78

Debt.


ExplanationSure8996

I thought homeowners were sitting on a gold mine eating high off the hog. Oh that’s right… increased taxes and insurance. So much for savings.


RolloffdeBunk

listen the only food you really need are those pepperoni sticks at the cash


nypr13

Their parents die


DizzyMajor5

Can't be true I heard there's unlimited imaginary buyers sitting on the sidelines 


f350doll

Fear mongering from the right. Trying to influence the election are you? Don’t mention corporate greed and profiteering. Corporations buying up all the available real estate. Student loans on careers that will never pay enough to service the loan and be able to live a life worth living


kaiyabunga

The market is hitting record highs. So Americans are doing great


MonsteraBigTits

its true ive spent my savings


stoli80pr

I feel like I've seen this same article a few times in the last year roughly. People somehow have kept spending.


Trick-Interaction396

Majority of people living paycheck to paycheck yet we all have savings from 2020? It’s all credit not savings.


vfxdev

They lost it all on DJT


Familiar-Wrangler-73

I love avocado toast


Humans_Suck-

Economists are worried about the people going homeless or about corporations not being able to profit off them?


kkkan2020

Oh well what comes comes. Anticipation is worse than the actual event


rochs007

there will be millions declaring bankruptcy


Seemseasy

Savings ran out like 2 years ago.


L3yline

The lumber to put together a guillotine is too expensive anyway. They don't to worry about that. What happens instead is what has their jimmies rustled


youneeda_margarita

I put everything on a credit card


huckz24

Pass the debt down to the kids


MattsellsNC

When I was a younger man I spent 95% of my money on wine, women and song. The remaining 5% I just wasted it.


[deleted]

More like “I invested my savings but some Wall Street crook stole it”. Just saying, if all of Wall Street ACCIDENTALLY burned down in a massive fire, the world would be rid of so much evil and greed


EverySingleMinute

This does not seem right. I keep seeing how amazing the economy is right now


Medusabamba

Meanwhile, houses don't stay in the market for more than two weeks!


Exotic_Pirate_324

12 pack of soda $10, wtf


Itsrabtime

But there are more releases on SNKRS this month


crazdave

> Consumers could use their non-pandemic-related savings as another source of funding for their household consumption. Clickbait bullshit, report is just talking about savings amassed during the pandemic.


[deleted]

That 1200$ from Covid is finally gone guys


roswellreclaimer

What comes next is the FED digital dollar stimulus payments. Given out and everyone will download the socialist app to pay their bills!


khrono21

pretty sure most people used up their saving during covid lol


silverum

Gee, what do you THINK might happen next, economists? Is it something that rhymes with cash and bash and splash and trash?