Savings Rate in America Nonexistent

Why would anyone not have a sense of the future when everyone knows that social security will not be the catch-all it used to be - this article, just a snippet from Moneynews, paints a dim picture of what the coming generation will face due to spending all of their discretionary income and then dipping into their savings to have what they think are necessities.

This article doesn't cover some the less heralded aspects of saving habits that accounts for a large part of the new saving system in the work place.

It doesn't take into account 401K's or 403B's that are deducted from the workers paycheck before taxes. There is also a large number of people that are involved in the stock market and IRA's, insurance policies, annuities and other programs that do not come to light when deciding who saves what and where.

Only time will tell if the present generation, Boomer, will have the will to at least make an attempt at savings now that retirement is on the horizon - too late for many but maybe their is hope for some.

Following, in the article, is more good news on the economy - this is not new information -

Personal Savings in 2006 Dropped to 74-Year Low

MoneyNews Thursday, Feb. 1, 2007

WASHINGTON -- People once again spent everything they made and then some last year, pushing the personal savings rate to the lowest level since the Great Depression more than seven decades ago.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that the savings rate for all of 2006 was a negative 1 percent, meaning that not only did people spend all the money they earned but they also dipped into savings or increased borrowing to finance purchases.

The 2006 figure was lower than a negative 0.4 percent in 2005 and was the poorest showing since a negative 1.5 percent savings rate in 1933 during the Great Depression.

For December, consumer spending rose a solid 0.7 percent, the best showing in five months, while incomes rose by 0.5 percent, both figures matching Wall Street expectations.
In other news, the Labor Department reported that the number of newly laid off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits dropped by 20,000 last week to 307,000.

That improvement pushed the four-week average for claims to the lowest level in a year, indicating that the labor market remains healthy.

Also the deficit is cut in half four years ahead of schedule due to revenue income that is 24% ahead of two years ago, wages are up over 4% and the over all GDP for the forth quarter is at 3.5%, that is ahead of anyone's expectations - Of course you wouldn't hear this from the Democrats.