Living Paycheck to Paycheck on $100,000
DEBT, CREDIT, CREDIT CARDS, PERSONAL FINANCE, MORTGAGES, LOANS, SAVINGS RATE
By Joseph Pisani, News Associate, CNBC.com
| 11 Sep 2008 | 09:49 AM ET
If you are counting the days until the next payday comes around, you’re not alone.
And we're not talking Jane and Joe Six Pack here.
Some 21 percent of those with salaries of $100,000 or more say they are living paycheck to paycheck, according to a recent survey conducted by CareerBuilder.com.
While experts are quick to acknowledge that high gasoline prices, the slumping housing market and a generally weak economy are weighing on consumers' finances, they also agree that the general difficulty in making ends meet is also the result of persistently bad spending and saving habits that are now catching up with the spendthrift American.
"Unquestionably, more people are living paycheck to paycheck now than 12 months ago,” says Ken Goldstein an economist at the Conference Board. "Americans have never been big savers under any economic circumstance or condition."
The amount of money Americans save has been declining for decades. Most recently, the personal savings rate was 1.2 percent of after-tax income, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. A couple years ago, the rate was actually negative, meaning consumers were dipping into savings to cover expenses. One-in-ten workers making more than $100,000 say they put no money in a savings account each month, according to the CareerBuilder survey.
While recessions and inflation are inevitable, your personal balance sheet need not be perpetually red. "The one thing you can control for a more secure long-term financial future is your savings and spending rate,” said Alyce Zollman, a financial consultant at Charles Schwab.
URL: http://www.cnbc.com/id/26645137/
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