Dog That Bit Man Actually a Wolverine, Film at 11
I’m not sure why I’m the least bit surprised anymore when I find that some statistic that gets bandied around turns out to be, at best, misleading, and at worst, total junk.
Today’s example of this is the new much-fretted-about statistic that the U.S. savings rate has gone negative. And, yes, that’s bad. But less widely mentioned is the caveat that this statistic includes the ever burgeoning group of retirees, who report a savings draw down of about 12-14% a year. So, for working Americans, the rate is actually more like 6%.
Six percent is no great shakes, but it’s not the raining cats and dogs, fire and brimstone negative percentage that everyone is freaking out about.
I look forward to the total panic that comes when the savings rate drops even “lower” because more and more people are retiring.
The Miserly Mistress said,
February 14, 2006 @ 12:13 pm
Thanks for this, this is so much more encouraging than the doomsday savings rate that was reported earlier in the year!