> Basically the only reason most people struggle financially in the US is due to their own financial illiteracy and living above their means. If you manage not to fall victim to either of those then you can save a substantial portion of your income towards a very early retirement should you choose to do so.
That is really only true for households above the median income.
So "most" is not a factual statement. About half of the country can save [at most] a few thousand dollars a year unless they want to ruin their health and take other risks that are essentially gambling.
That is part of what pisses me off about /r/financialindependence. Alot of the "suggestions" those people make are essentially gambling. [e.g. going without proper insurance coverage, high risk investments if you cannot save much due to income, eat unhealthy to save money which will cost you later] Or they assume you are making $60k a year so you can save $20k/year. You can't save $20k/year if you are making $30k.
That is really only true for households above the median income.
So "most" is not a factual statement. About half of the country can save [at most] a few thousand dollars a year unless they want to ruin their health and take other risks that are essentially gambling.
That is part of what pisses me off about /r/financialindependence. Alot of the "suggestions" those people make are essentially gambling. [e.g. going without proper insurance coverage, high risk investments if you cannot save much due to income, eat unhealthy to save money which will cost you later] Or they assume you are making $60k a year so you can save $20k/year. You can't save $20k/year if you are making $30k.