When faced with an unexpected $1,000 expense, more than one-third of Americans would borrow the money, according to a new Bankrate survey. That may include tapping their credit cards, seeking money from friends or family or taking out a personal loan.
Most would not turn to cash savings because they don’t have it, the personal finance website found.
Fewer than half of Americans, 44%, say they can afford to pay a $1,000 emergency expense from their savings, according to Bankrate’s survey of more than 1,000 respondents conducted in December.
That is up from 43% in 2023, yet level when compared to 2022.
“We’re just not wired to save,” said Brad Klontz, a certified financial planner and expert in financial psychology and behavioral finance. Our brains are instead programmed to focus on our immediate needs.
Even if they didn’t, it would make little difference.
But (and I don’t know in their case) unplanned kids or not aside, now you’re saying they should wait for this magical time where they might be able to afford owning a home (when in reality they probably did at the time feel they could when prices were lower), versus the fact that you can’t just magically have kids whenever. The older you get, the more risks and complications versus the challenge of simply raising kids when you’re older in general.
The point is there was a time when this sort of calculated planning wasn’t necessary; yet the squeeze from the rich now makes it so we have to literally postpone fucking life because of how rigged the real estate market and the broader wealth gap is.
The point is there are only dilemmas and no good options while societal pressures continue to increase for the poor and middle-class. Besides that, there’s a lot of tolerance and room for forgiveness when you’re rich. Not so much when you’re poor. Make one mistake and you’re fucked. And no, this is not a meritocracy.