Are you a spender or a saver?
According to Scarborough, a market research firm, only 9% of adults in the U.S. label themselves as spenders. This is the percentage who “mostly agree” with the statement, “I am a spender rather than a saver.” On the opposite side, 29% “mostly disagree” with the statement and are considered savers. Presumably, the 62% in between consider themselves to have well-balanced financial habits that include both spending and saving.
Given these numbers, it would seem that most of the adults in this country ought to have healthy savings accounts. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.
According to a report released in March 2013 by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, 57% of U.S. workers have less than $25,000 in total household investments and savings, not including the value of their homes. The Social Security Administration’s current figures show 34% of American workers have no savings set aside specifically for retirement.
Something doesn’t quite add up. Either a lot of Americans aren’t willing to admit that they are spenders, a lot of Americans are so poor that they can’t afford to save, or a lot of Americans are delusional.
Or maybe a lot of us just have different definitions of “saving.”
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