Quote from DHOHHI:
This could be one of the most uninformed statements I've read here in a long time.
First, one can find CD's paying 5.6% or more on 6-8 month terms. Forgetting CD's ... money market accounts are paying as much as 5.3%. That more than beats inflation ... after taxes. Second, the savings rate in the US is NEGATIVE ... hardly something to get too upbeat about given that people seem to have no clue that they NEED to be putting $$$ away for retirement. Third, the ARM's coming due and needing to be refinanced will badly hurt those who will see their monthly mortgage payments rise even more ... further eroding any savings. Get a clue ... people are spending more than they make. If you can't see the negative longer term effects then you're blind.
Oh yeah ... educate yourself on compounding over the longer term.
In don't know where you are getting your info, but the savings rate is not negative. There is a lot of confusion on this. The government takes the arithmetic difference between spending and wages and comes up with an oft quoted "savings rate". That's it! They don't measure savings accounts or retirement accounts or anything....its just wages minus spending, hardly an accurate measure. Regarding ARM's it's true that many people will be hurt, but with 10 year Treasury notes (the basis for mortgage rates, btw) under 5% many are refinancing into fixed rate loans. The bottom line is that household wealth is still near record highs.
