UNITED WAY says almost half of U.S.households can't afford the basics

Another indication that despite claims to the contrary our economy i9s not raising all boats as CONSUMER DEBT rose to another new high of $13.5 TRILLION in the third quarter.Student loan debt delinquencies of 90 or more days rose to 9.1%,with the biggest month to month jump in 7 years.

 

Of course, as more people have jobs, as incomes and confidence in the economy rise, people will incur more debt. That only confirms the gains.

Student loans... Something else. I suspect that the promises of easy money used to sell degrees has created quite a number of students who found that the real world still requires performance- not just having a paper, but the ability to understand and apply what you are supposed to know. Lots of colleges have turned into education into liberal political training, and a lot of those students are finding the market for that is pretty poor. Of course, they expect to be bailed out, and we already have a number of federal programs doing that. That is how the democrats promote "responsibility"- promote irresponsibility, and pass the bills onto the ubiquitous "somebody else" they think exists solely for that purpose. Somewhere.

It's a programs that encourages irresponsible debt, and the taxpayers foot the bills- and usually get abused by the ingratitude of those they bail out.

 

If enough people were in fat city, borrowing would decline not increase.

 

Is that why lottery winners often go broke?
Having money is not managing money- most people are far better money spenders than they are money managers. I once had a customer who was a neurosurgeon, married to an orthodontist, that couldn't borrow enough money to finance his project because he had maxed his credit everywhere. Making about a Mil a year, and couldn't finance 80K. Incredible.

 

I'm not really across 'food stamps'. We don't have anything like that in this country .. our welfare is cash. I actually like the idea of food stamps, though. Would prevent expenditure on cigs and alcohol etc. And I would definitely limit them to healthy, low cost basics. My food stamps list would look something like this:

brown rice (white rice is linked to diabetes)
dried lentils and beans
eggs
canned fish
fresh fruit and vegetables (IN SEASON ITEMS ONLY)
wholemeal flour
olive oil
brown sugar
wholemeal or grain bread

Anything else should be considered a luxury item, since the above is all that's required to live a long and healthy life. You want cheese, meat, coffee, chocolate, etc? Find a way to pay for it yourself.

 

Ya, God forbid the population gets to actually save money tax free or tax deferred for their own retirement.As one who has lived a long time my 401k is taxable but still a resource I would have squandered had it not been for the opportunity to put it away for so many years.