Money Manna - A Few Facts

If you doubt that America has a problem with spending and saving, just take a look at the facts below:
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According to an August 2016 survey of 7,052 people by the financial-services site GoBankingRates, nearly 70% of the people surveyed had less than $1,000 in savings.  Breaking the survey data down a bit further, we find that 34% of Americans don't have a dime in their savings account, while another 35% have less than $1,000. Of the remaining survey-takers, 11% have between $1,000 and $4,999, 4% have between $5,000 and $9,999, and 15% have more than $10,000.
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No income group did particularly well. Some 29% of adults earning more than $150,000 a year, and 44% making between $100,000 and $149,999, had less than $1,000 in savings. Comparatively, 73% of the lowest income adults (those earnings $24,999 or less annually) had less than $1,000 in their savings account.

The St. Louis Federal Reserve releases data on personal household savings rates. In July 2016, the personal savings rate was just 5.7% - the recommendation is to save between 10% and 15% of your annual income.  Comparatively, personal savings rates in the U.S. 50 years ago were double where they are today, and nearly all developed countries have a higher personal savings rate than the United States.