I know people who make minimum wage and put money away for savings and I know people who make six figures and couldn't save anything if their life depended on it. It really is a matter of choices (priorities, where you live, decision to have kids etc). It sounds like you prioritized college and were successful at it - good job (that requires putting money away too). I save about 24% of my gross pay (including 401K and IRA). Some days I think I should cut back so I can buy something I want, but then I mentally slap myself and say "no, I just need to save up for that and buy less of other things".

Don't know where you live, or what you make "S", but rest assured that the vast majority of "working" people live week to week......Save 24% of your gross???????

You sound like Mitt Romney who says "I don't really see the problem why people can't pay their bills>"

The system is geared to strip us of our money period

Until you are ready to take responsibility for yourself, you'll always find something to blame.

I don't know who or what this "system" is, but unless it involves someone with a gun held to your head, you are the one making yourself poor.

I'm tired of listening to whiners who are too lazy and undisciplined to have the good life, but somehow feel entitled to it anyway.

If you're out of job, hire yourself. You can make a fortune in intellectual property, or if you have some self-discipline and $500 you can trade currencies and at least earn a living. Or write a how-to book, or if creative, a novel. Genre fiction is within the capabilities of most creative people and can produce a decent living.

If you have no talents, no money to invest, and are short on creativity, start a day-care in your home. Other people's children can pay your rent and put food on the table. If you have some ambition, even if you are poor you can buy a house on contract-for-deed, set up the ground floor as a day care center, and eventually become licensed. At that point you can hire helpers for minimum wage and let the kids take you to an upper-middle class lifestyle while paying off your home. Excellent choice for a working-poor woman with a baby to raise.

This country provides NO END of opportunities for everyone from the dirt-poor to the well-off. I read that Nickled-and-Dimed book and was amazed that people could be so hopelessly stupid and lazy. Whining and crying about the low wage paid for house-cleaners. Get off your butt and get some clients for yourself, then save up your money and get bonded.

If you have no ambition and no discipline, you'll be poor all your life. That's the way it works in the real world.

And yet, many Americans remain unprepared for not having an income. A new survey from Country Financial finds that one-third of Americans would immediately fall behind on their bills if they lost a job and were left with no income.

That’s virtually the same result that Country Financial got the last time they asked the same question, in July of 2009.

The good news: About one-quarter of Americans are well-prepared for a job loss. The January survey found that 24 percent of respondents could weather five months without an income. That’s also virtually the same percentage as in July of 2009.

If you believe that survey, no more Americans make it a priority to put money into savings than they did in 2009. I have a hard time believing that. Other data has not supported this claim. It is too bad, so many take the "I deserve this NOW" attitude and use whatever means they can to make it happen rather than save and make good choices.

If you have no talents, no money to invest, and are short on creativity, start a day-care in your home.

Good luck with that. By the time you pay for local and state-required licenses and permits, mandatory bonding, remodeling your home to bring it up to codes for daycare providers you'll have starved to death.

And writing a book is easy. I've written several. Writing a book that other people want to buy is more problematic.

Severed,

So move to a city where day care regulations are reasonable. Most regulations are minor for day care homes, which gets you a start and some investment capital. Most codes are actually nothing more than what you ought to have to provide a safe place for your own family and require no "remodeling." I happen to know because I just did some research on the subject recently.

And writing a book that other people want to buy is not problematic if you have any experience or creativity. People buy good how-to books on every subject imaginable. People buy genre fiction by the truck-load. I just read a report on mediabistro about a genre author who earned over $100k in three weeks during the holidays, and I looked up his books on Amazon -- this isn't a Harry Potter series we're talking about, or a Stephen King. Many of his books are priced very low and many of his reviews are not stellar.

Heck, romance novels are the biggest-selling genre in America, and have been for decades. That market is huge and always hungry. I don't know what books you've written that no one wants to buy, but maybe you should motivate yourself to do a little research before you write.

People who don't want to help themselves sit around and whine, and you have just illustrated my point beautifully.

Save 24% of your gross???????

You sound like Mitt Romney who says "I don't really see the problem why people can't pay their bills>"

Then cut your bills or increase your income mine has only gone up in the past three years.

What a title "Many Americans Still Not Prepared For A Job Loss." Does that mean that there are going to be more out of work people? The cost of living is high and the wages are low how can one prepare for a job loss. That's such a good feeling preparing for a job loss and not retirement!

401K Is the worse loan you can get.

Maybe u can learn a few things from the neighbor

the american way for entitlements at work

turn him in to the IRS...finder's fee!!!

turn him in to the IRS...finder's fee!!!

Then maybe he'll come over and blow your brains out and you won't have any bills at all.

Let me add something to that if I may.....If anyone would fail to give these people aid, you would see a crime way in this country that would rival the middle ages....Stop welfare and food stamp programs in the bigger cities and these people would burn them to the ground...

Does anyone honestly think that this country gives these people "programs" because they want to??????? It's an alternative to what would happen if they didn't.

I agree Rom. I hear the same kind of talk. It makes people feel good to feel superior.

I like you see it as a good business desicion. Peace is cheaper than war.

Sad thing is there are knuckleheads that enjoy war. Class War.

One of the biggest problems i see Rom comes from your post. You refer to them as "these people." They are people just like the rest. Circumstances play a great part in many people's lives. Some are w/in their control. Some aren't. You see when you divest yourself from something, you don't have an emotional input or concern which leads to impassionate feelings to our common man.

@Rom1: You don't think that because a person works hard, applies him or herself, and finds gainful employment, that it is their right to the fruits of their own labor?

I am relatively well-off, as in "getting all the bills paid," based off my own hard work and discipline. Am I not entitled to the fruits of my own labor? Why is it my responsibility to also provide for others?

Its not just single mothers.....its overall life choices.

I have the impression that people are not being raised with proper thought process and preparedness. Its like adults are keeping the kids from finding out cold harsh facts of life until its to late for them.

Like if you do drugs or crime and get arrested that will haunt you for the rest of your life and keep you from jobs and money. FACT.

or if you sleep around and end up pregnant with a child and drop out of school it will hinder you for years to come in employment, money and life. FACT

if you pierce your face and tattoo all over where people can see it, it might keep you from obtaining good jobs and money. FACT.

We are teaching kids that expression means more than responsibility, and we dont keep score at games so we dont belittle the losers and everyone gets a trophy because we are all winners........

Then one day life shows up and kicks them right in the behind with cold harsh truth. A lot of them seem to run right back home to mommie and live in the basement even though they are 30 because they cant deal with reality.

Life is hard and no one gets out of it alive,,,,better to prepare the kids for that fact early on and drop the utopia complex because it only hurts them later.

Nice comment, well said. Also, as a single/divorced mother with an MBA and making well over 6 figures, I am kind of offended by this single mother comment. It is important to not label people. I believe the comment about life choices and parental teaching/training is very important. I have three children, all in college and very intelligent. They all work hard in college and hold down jobs as well. Let's not lump all single mothers in one category. As we should not all lump any person of any type or background into one category.

What about the dads of these single mothers? I'm a single mom and I actually get child support (unlike many mothers) from my ex who collects unemployment while getting paid cash for jobs he takes on the side hidden from his union job for which he sits on the bench. I on the other hand, the irresponsible one (sarcasm) is self employed and unable to collect unemployment. I haven't taken the time to figure out how I can game the system because I am too busy working. Oh, and it was never my desire to be a single mother. I didn't get knocked up before we were married but I did make the mistake of marrying someone who didn't take the commitment and responsibility as seriously as I did. Of course I didn't know that until he left. Still, I'm the one ridiculed?

JP - Ohio, I was unemployed for 6 months and did not utilize Cobra, instead opting for an individual health plan (I went with Blue Cross and paid $113/mo) - better to find affordable insurance than risk being without it. Good luck!

You know a lot of people say that same thing. Let me ask you one question when does anyone get to top pay? Top pay meaning that you not receive anymore increases for the job yo are doing. If we keep just adding 2-3% each year where and when does it stop. If we don't stop we will continue to see everything go up forever?

Smokie......it will continue to go up b/c companies are only interested in profits. I foresee them eventually cutting off there noses to spite themselves when no one but the rich can afford one thing other then food and shelter. If wages never rise then either should the price of goods. Lets go back 15 years to those prices and maybe some of these people could get out of the red. Heaven knows 2 cent raises don't keep up!

just groceries alone for a family of four is outrageous!

300-400 a month is not that outrageous.

it will continue to go up b/c companies are only interested in profits.

Companies are in business to earn profits for their owners. If they fail to earn a profit, they shut down.

Try to understand our capitalist system - which, by the way, has given most Americans a pretty nice lifestyle.

Try killing the unnecessary expenses, you know, like home internet, cable, smart phones, etc., and see if you can't make a little more buffer in your budget.

I can afford a smart phone, but I don't have one, because I don't believe it is worth paying an extra $30-40 per month for it. If you get thrifty with non-essentials, you'd be surprised how much more distance you get out of each paycheck.

Matt You are so right. My wife and I mad e the commitment 4 years age to be debt free we paid 120K to be that way paying off 96K in debt. that extra 1,400 a month goes a long way. now that we are debt free we can save a lot and plan to buy a house with cash or close to it is about 4-5 years.

Agreed. It is just a smoke screen.

On the subject of college....who decided for the children that EVERYONE needs a college degree??? I knew high school kids that had no business in college after graduation. Maybe later in life when they focused on what they wanted to accomplish, but to many kids are pushed into college at great expense when in fact they have no clue what they want to do yet.

For many other vocational training is best. The world does need bricklayers, welders, plumbers and mechanics. These are fine trades and many small business owners started this way. Why is this not pushed as hard as college???

We drive our kids to automatically expect to go to college where they rack up thousands in debt before they even have a career choice......

What a way to get them going, huh?

IT is true foreign competition is making things harder on US firms. Both consumers are guilty for buying foreign products and firms buying their labor services from overseas.

Has anyone tried recently to go to an store and find something that says "Made in the U.S.A" ?

Yes it is not that hard.

@Mark: I've got another 14 months guaranteed on my contract, and I've already started looking. While 5 months might be dead on for you, for some people it's a week, for others it's a year. I'm glad you found new employment.

One of the problems with unemployment, is that many are only half-heartedly looking for new employment while benefits are coming in, and get to the serious searching nearer the end. (Research supporting this has been published multiple times.) My advice to anyone between jobs is to start looking immediately, because you can't expect to find one easily.

While 5 months might be dead on for you, for some people it's a week, for others it's a year.

Your right for me it is a day.

John, A lot of the stagnation in wages is caused by technology eliminating the need for many middle class jobs. That and foreign competition are things politicians can't control.

I suggest you also extend your memories a little, rather than being selective. Both parties are at fault, and we, as numbered citizens, are suffering the consequences of their irresponsibility.

If you recall, the Clinton administration pushed the initiative that "every American own his or her own home." The unsaid being, "regardless of whether or not they can afford to pay for it." At the end of the Clinton administration, the tech bubble burst, remember Yahoo! stock being $100+ per share?

In 2001, 9/11 occurred, in addition to revelations of widespread corruption in some of the largest companies. Remember Enron? Sure, the wars didn't help, but the housing market bubble was building up, waiting to collapse. Bush didn't try to fix the problem, he merely let it go the way it was, and when it finally collapsed, so did the banks and their toxic mortgage-based assets. The banks were bailed out, and we're where we are now.

Neither party has solutions. Both are content to remain in power, and maintain the status quo. Both republicans and democrats stay happy under the bipartisan system -- if the republicans lose, they just sit back and say, "We'll get 'em next time." Ditto democrats. The only real "losers" here are the American body politic.

Neither party is innocent. To try and find things that occurred during one presidents term just to place blame on one party is nuts. Bush continued the same policies that president for years were following and most of his stuff was bipartisan.

Don, exactly. There were so many factors involved that you cannot just simplify it down to "it's Bush's fault" or "it's Obama's fault". Neither political party has the little guy's best interest in mind. They both have money coming in from all sides and that's why it's so hard for them to even make tiny budget cuts. None of them want to lose that stream of money coming. The super committee and the automatic cuts were just a way for them to avoid having anybody take the blame for this mess.

I agree thats what the super committee was about. I don't think anyone really is concerned about spending cuts as long as the other political party get the blame.