A Christian investment expert says it's no secret why Americans' personal savings rate has dipped to a 74 year low. Many households, he says, are caught in a mindset that has members spending income they need to be saving, to keep up with the rising cost of the lifestyle to which they're accustomed.
The Commerce Department's figures for 2006 on Americans' personal savings rate -- the amount of disposable income left after taxes and spending each month -- are at a -1%, the lowest since the Great Depression. According to National Christian Financial Advisors co-founder Hakeem Webb, that means they're spending more than they make and then some.
"At the end of the day, people do not have enough money to save," he bluntly observes. "What I'm finding out is that people are living beyond their means." And that means people are using credit cards and other credit resources to pay for gasoline, food, utilities, travel, and the rising cost of living for necessities just to keep up with their accustomed lifestyle.
The result, he contends, is that America has become not only a "debtor country," but a "debtor nation within the ranks of the households as well."
Webb, senior investment advisor for NCFA, says that is happening because consumers are trapped in a cultural "sales psychology" that has them keeping up with techno toys and luxury auto and recreation items, as well as spending more than necessary on daily needs, for the lifestyle they have had before. It's a mindset that he says needs to change.
"The best thing to do to increase your savings is to evaluate your spending habits," the financial advisor counsels. As much as possible, he says that means diverting spendable income to savings instead of buying goods and services that do not provide for the future.
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National Christian Financial Advisors (http://www.ncfallc.com)