US Financial Precarity

I think you need to educate yourself on how Americans are doing financially.https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/20/heres-why-so-many-americans-...

absolutely, and the scary thing is that> I’m just one giant disaster away from this kind of thing.this is true for the vast majority of Americans, given that somewhere between 60-70% have less than $1000 in savingshttps://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/18/few-americans-have-enough-sa...

Till you get laid off and get sick with no savings :)

This is related to the human tendency to overestimate the danger of unpredictable risks.The danger of a major financial disaster for a healthy and educated young person in a developed country is much lower than it seems. I know many such people that traveled across the country, some with no money or possessions to their name. None of them were broke for more than a few months, and within 6 most of them lived a similar lifestyle to the one they left behind.The danger is much greater if you

The existing reply captured it well. To add to that, this is not “an unexpected expense”sinking your finances. Imagine instead that you suddenly can’t do the job you do nor can you get equivalent pay. How long could a you float on say minimum wage? Maybe it gets worse and you have trouble getting any regular job. How long could you go with no pay? Many people would say, “can’t happen to me.” And that is what the article is about. That is the invisible knife edge. Get a divorce, get sick, and hav

As a Brit, I don't really understand the mindset that everyone is a mistake away from being penniless, to be honest.It feels mostly like a healthcare thing specific to the US. And it ignores the fact that most severe healthcare outcomes will ruin you in more ways than just the financial.Aside from healthcare, there are no real expenses I can think of that would suddenly "ruin my life".The two real examples I can think of are:- an uninsured house fire/collapse, mit

Yep - almost as scary as the stat that "40% of American adults can't cover a $400 emergency expense"[1][1] https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/22/fed-survey-40-percent-of-adu...

Apparently most americans are one paycheck away from the that: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/most-americans-are-one-pay...

really?`you are unable to think of any situation where people would be unable to save a year's worth of pay?

You can be a very responsible person and still not be able to cover a sudden expense that is a significant fraction (if not a multiple) of you annual income.