Americans Are Saving Money at the Lowest Rate in 10 Years

Photo credit: Alan Cleaver, CC BY 2.0.

Today in “saving for the future,” we go to MarketWatch:

The U.S. savings rate tumbled to 3.1% in September from 3.7% and touched the lowest level since December 2007, the Commerce Department said Monday. The savings rate has fallen steadily since 2015, when it was twice as high.

Why are we suddenly saving less money? On the one hand, unemployment is down and the stock market is up, which means people are investing in both stocks and consumer goods. On the other hand… well, a lot of people had to replace hurricane-damaged cars this year:

In September, spending on motor vehicles and parts soared 9.7% to mark the biggest gain since 2010. As many as 300,000 cars and trucks may have been damaged by the storms, forcing the owners to repair or replace them.

Are you saving more or less money than you were two years ago? I’m saving more—but I’m also still in the “I need to save as much as possible so I can grow my business and be ready to consider homeownership in a few years” mindset.

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