Saving, spending and the right thing to do. That's a continuing theme here at MinnEcon. We're being told constantly, it seems, how it's our duty to spend to help the economy. Now comes more evidence that the nation is not in a spending mood.
A recent survey by ING shows 7 of 10 people who expect to get a tax refund this year say they'll be saving it, not spending it.
Of course, the survey comes from ING, which has been marketing itself as the place to put your savings. But the results do match up with what we're hearing from folks in our Public Insight Network. They don't want to spend. They want to pay off debt and save.
In normal economic circumstances, we'd be applauding this. But the idea of people saving their cash suddenly has economic leaders wringing their hands.
Are you in spending or saving mode these days? What will you do with that refund? You can help us at MPR News report on the economy by taking your own economic pulse.
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Comments: 5
Dave Ramsey's been teaching his "Financial Peace University" for the last 20 years with essentially the same message: Become debt-free, and build wealth the slow way. I discovered his teachings (www.daveramsey.com) about 6 years ago, and have been teaching the FPU class at my church 6 times.
He has advocated cutting up credit card, building emergency fund, eliminating debts, debunking FICO score (DR has FICO score of ZERO), and building wealth with disposable income without using debt. He is a Christian Financial Counselor, and has shows on Fox business news and his own 3 hour radio show all around the country. He has written several NY Times best sellers, and appear around the country doing live shows on personal finance. He has appeared on CBS Morning Show, ABC, and Fox News as financial guru. He is the only financial counselor who has common sense (he debunked both Obama and McCain when they voted for both bailout bills). He advocates buying reliable used cars and not buying a mortgage until all other debts are paid off and have emergency fund and a big down payment (he wants us to pay down 100% if possible). He is basically a Libertarian.
I personally became debt free using his method, built up wealth the Crock-Pot way, and have chosen to NOT participate in this recession. I'm looking forward to his "Town Hall for Hope" session on April 23 at 7 pm CDT.
I have posted my personal finance advices and money saving ideas elsewhere on gather.com. You can search for key phrases at gather.com (include the quotes):
"Personal finance Topic"
"Interesting Statistics on Personal Finance"
"I found some money in my wallet"
"Insane financial practices"
"Jeff's Editorial"
"Jeff's Stupid Topic"
"Taking Control of Your Taxes Topic"