By Allan Wall
02/12/2020
CNBC reports that one in three American workers run out of money before payday. I know I do.
… For about a third of Americans, this is a regular financial stress, with 32% running out of money before their next paycheck hits, according to a new survey fielded by Salary Finance of over 2,700 U.S. adults working at companies with over 500 employees … Contrary to popular belief, “this is not just an issue for people at the lower end of the income spectrum,” Dan Macklin, Salary Finance’s U.S. CEO and co-founder of SoFi, tells CNBC Make It. About 31% of respondents earning over $100,000 also regularly experience a budget shortfall before payday.
[Nearly 1 in 3 American workers run out of money before payday — even those earning over 100,000 ,by Megan Leonhardt, CNBC, February 12, 2020]
So why is this?
For many, it’s the rising cost of living — including food, housing, education and medical expenses — that creates the squeeze. Over the past year, basic costs increased by 2.3%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s Consumer Price Index. The cost of medical care rose 4.6% in 2019, the largest year-over-year increase since 2007, the BLS reports. Housing also jumped 3.2% last year, while education expenses rose 2.1% and food prices increased about 1.8%.
For others, it’s stagnant wages. Real wages effectively remained stalled last year, showing only a 0.2% year-over-year increase, according to the PayScale Index. But looking longer term, Payscale found median wages, when adjusted for inflation, actually declined 9% since 2006.
So why do we continue to import more workers? How about allowing the system to work for American workers? We really don’t need more workers.
In order to shield your future from financial threats, Tom Butch, managing director of retail distribution at TD Ameritrade, recently recommended Americans develop a comprehensive financial plan and build an emergency savings fund of three to six months of living expenses.
Setting up regular, automatic transfers from your checking account to a savings account will help grow your emergency fund over time. If you’re tight on money at the moment, start small with just $5 a day or $5 a week. And consider a high-yield savings account, which typically pays higher interest that compounds over time.
Yes of course we should save more. But it’s hard with all the expenses, and debt is really a problem.
So once again I ask, why are we importing more workers?
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