If you’re having trouble paying your bills today — much less saving any money — you’re not alone. The average savings rate in June was down to just 3.4% of income, less than half the pre-pandemic rate and almost two-thirds below the long-run average of about 8.
5%. Besides 2022, that’s the lowest rate since the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession. But it’s not your fault.
It’s the direct result of a bloated federal budget squeezing out the family budget. And you can blame Washington for that. While both political parties are to blame for overspending, the two biggest culprits over the last 31⁄2 years have been President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
They’ve led a reckless spending spree that has increased the federal debt by $7.4 trillion and burned through another $1 trillion of cash at the Treasury during their time in office. Those trillions in runaway spending have been financed with borrowed money, much of it created out of thin air by the Federal Reserve.
This gave the Treasury more dollars to spend, but everyone’s dollar thereby lost value. It’s like pouring water into whiskey — it increases the volume of liquid, but it also decreases the whiskey’s proof. The trillions of dollars in government spending, borrowing and creating money caused the dollar to lose one-fifth of its value in less than four years while pushing up interest rates.
The combination of higher prices and higher borrowing costs has caused the monthly mortgag.