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Comment by pithymaxim | Hacker News Reader

>nearly 40 percent of Americans, a Federal Reserve report found, are in such a financially precarious state that they say they would have trouble finding $400 for an unexpected expense like a car repair or a medical bill.

This has got to be the most repeated statistic in reporting on hardship, but the actual responses seem way less dire: https://twitter.com/p_millerd/status/1118071142311288838?lan...

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Good on him for digging into it, but his conclusion is not much more cheery than the 40% statistic he is bashing. His conclusion: most of those 40% would be able to borrow money to cover an unexpected $400 expense, and only 14% of all people truly would be unable to meet a $400 obligation.

That is still a damn scary statistic that still illustrates how close to the edge so many people live.

His conclusion: most of those >40% would be able to borrow money to cover an unexpected $400 expense, and only 14% of all people truly would be unable to meet a $400 obligation.

That's pretty much exactly how I interpreted the original.

Perhaps better is to read the comments from the person responsible for the report: https://twitter.com/Claudia_Sahm/status/1073951343608545280

14% is still ~35 million adults. That's still a problem. And yes it's better than it was right after the global financial crisis, but this boom is not going to last forever. Our economic policies and policy makers are too busy sticking their heads in the sand.

But honestly, even if all those people made twice as much, you'd still see millions of people unable to cover an unexpected expense (maybe not 14%, but, say, 10%).

I've met more than a few people who are just mentally unable to save money. The second they get money, they spend it, regardless of the actual need.

Agreed, especially considering 1 in 6 millennials have $100k saved.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/05/1-in-6-millennials-have-1000...

Did you double-post on two different accounts?

Agreed, especially considering 1 in 6 millennials have $100k saved.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/05/1-in-6-millennials-have-1000...

Great, now they just need to save another $200k and they'll have the down payment on a median priced home!

You can find places for under $1M even in sf, and you don’t necessarily need 20% down for a first time homeowner

I’m guessing that is mostly 401k savings, not liquid savings, which essentially can’t be touched until 60.

The survey says this is based on savings in bank accounts not a 401k

Either way there’s nothing preventing you from “touching” 401k savings. You pay a 10% penalty.

Ha ha, there’s no way in hell I believe those numbers. This says it’s no more than $5k on average, at best. More like $2,500.

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/03/11/how-much-money-americans...

Averages are a bad way to look at it. There are fat tails on both sides.

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