The savings rate is a broader issue that even I thought....

The poor piggy bank to the left is darn hungry....and I was thinking that our national savings problem was happening because perhaps half the people....maybe less...are not saving enough.

But the table below that I took from this article on Bankrate.com shows perhaps a broader problem. Oh...and it is a problem that appears to NOT be as age specific as I thought. (though older people do seem to save better)

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Monthly savings goal by age

Total 18 to 34 35 to 49 50+ Able to achieve monthly goal 28% 28% 24% 39% Able to save some, but not enough 36% 34% 39% 32% Not able to save at all right now because of other financial responsibilities 32% 34% 34% 25% Refused to answer 4% 4% 3% 4%

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Yikes....over 70% of the people in this country are not making their goals! Oh...and do you suppose their goals are high enough to begin with? (I hope so)

This is scary.....how will be cope with this.

I suspect I know and I'm worried by the fact that the savers are in the vast minority....sounds like wealth re-distribution is probably the word of the day in the future. Yup....Tax the "rich"....except in this case, the rich are simply those who put money away as they were supposed to...perhaps even went without things to make sure they would not be a problem for their kids.

Live and learn....of course, it has not happened yet. Let's hope it doesn't, because this is a horrible message to send.....do the right thing and you will be rewarded (NOT), or spend like a drunken sailor and we will bail you out....you choose.

Had I known about those options, I might have chosen to run my life a bit differently. (but as I said...it hasn't happened yet)