Financial Condition Of Many Americans

The financial condition of many Americans remains very disconcerting on many fronts, as seen in many statistics and empiricism.

I have have written many posts on this widespread problematical financial condition, and many of these posts are seen in the “paycheck to paycheck” tag.

One recent notable report on the financial conditions of Americans includes the Russell Sage Foundation’s “Wealth Levels, Wealth Inequality, and The Great Recession“(pdf) which I mentioned in the August 7, 2014 post titled “Thoughts Concerning The Next Financial Crisis.”  This report has information regarding individuals’ net worth, and portrays many deeply disconcerting aspects concerning net worth levels and trends.  Another report on the subject was the Federal Reserve’s “Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households” (pdf) for 2013, and this was last discussed in the August 11, 2014 post titled “Financial Situation Experienced By Americans.”

Since that time, there have been at least two more notable reports that provide insights into the financial condition of Americans.   One is the McKinsey report of December 2014 titled “America the frugal:  US Consumer Sentiment Survey.”  Another is the bankrate.com survey discussed in the January 7, 2015 bankrate.com post titled “Budgets can crumble in times of trouble.”

The McKinsey report contains various notable information, including indications of a continuing high level of consumers who report they are living “paycheck to paycheck.”

The bankrate.com survey is dicussed in the Wall Street Journal post of January 7, 2015, titled “Most Americans Don’t Have Savings to Pay Unexpected Bill.”  An excerpt:

Only 38% of those polled said they could cover a $500 repair bill or a $1,000 emergency room visit with funds from their bank accounts, a new Bankrate report said. Most others would need to take on debt or cut back elsewhere.

Additional details can be seen in the reports and posts mentioned above.

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The Special Note summarizes my overall thoughts about our economic situation

SPX at 2062.14 as this post is written