Admit it, you're broke

[Silver]

If you're like most of America, you're broke. Don't be like the rest of the serfs. Do the opposite of what the major political parties and the Federal Reserve want you to do. (click on the link to see the charts) You are commanded to build a financial reserve. What's in your financial reserve?

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-06-0 ... -one-catch

Household Net Worth Hits A Record $95 Trillion... There Is Just One Catch
by Tyler Durden
Jun 8, 2017 1:03 PM

In the Fed's latest Flow of Funds report, today the Fed released the latest snapshot of the US "household" sector as of March 31, 2017. What it revealed is that with $110.0 trillion in assets and a modest $15.2 trillion in liabilities, the net worth of the average US household rose to a new all time high of $94.835 trillion, up $2.4 trillion as a result of an estimated $500 billion increase in real estate values, but mostly $1.78 trillion increase in various stock-market linked financial assets like corporate equities, mutual and pension funds, as the stock market continued to soar to all time highs .

At the same time, household borrowing rose by only $36 billion from $15.1 trillion to $15.2 trillion, the bulk of which was $9.8 trillion in home mortgages.

The breakdown of the total household balance sheet as of Q2 is shown below.

And the historical change of the US household balance sheet.

And while it would be great news if wealth across America had indeed risen as much as the chart above shows, the reality is that there is a big catch: as shown previously, virtually all of the net worth, and associated increase thereof, has only benefited a handful of the wealthiest Americans.

As a reminder, from the CBO's latest Trends in Family Wealth analysis, here is a breakdown of the above chart by wealth group, which sadly shows how the "average" American wealth is anything but.

While the breakdown has not caught up with the latest data, it provides an indicative snapshot of who benefits. Here is how the CBO recently explained the wealth is distributed:

In 2013, families in the top 10 percent of the wealth distribution held 76 percent of all family wealth, families in the 51st to the 90th percentiles held 23 percent, and those in the bottom half of the distribution held 1 percent.
Average wealth was about $4 million for families in the top 10 percent of the wealth distribution, $316,000 for families in the 51st to 90th percentiles, and $36,000 for families in the 26th to 50th percentiles. On average, families at or below the 25th percentile were $13,000 in debt.
In other words, roughly three-quarter of the $2.4 trillion increase in assets went to benefit just 10% of the population, who also account for roughly 76% of America's financial net worth,

Even worse, when looking at how wealth distribution changed from 1989 to 2013, a clear picture emerges. Over the period from 1989 through 2013, family wealth grew at significantly different rates for different segments of the U.S. population. In 2013, for example:The wealth of families at the 90th percentile of the distribution was 54 percent greater than the wealth at the 90th percentile in 1989, after adjusting for changes in prices.

The wealth of those at the median was 4 percent greater than the wealth of their counterparts in 1989.
The wealth of families at the 25th percentile was 6 percent less than that of their counterparts in 1989.
As the chart below shows, nobody has experienced the same cumulative growth in after-tax income as the "Top 1%"

The above is particularly topical at a time when either party is trying to take credit for the US recovery. Here, while previously Democrats, and now Republicans tout the US "income recovery" they may have forgotten about half of America, but one entity remembers well: loan collectors. As the chart below shows, America's poor families have never been more in debt.

The share of families in debt (those whose total debt exceeded their total assets) remained almost unchanged between 1989 and 2007 and then increased by 50 percent between 2007 and 2013. In 2013, those families were more in debt than their counterparts had been either in 1989 or in 2007. For instance, 8 percent of families were in debt in 2007 and, on average, their debt exceeded their assets by $20,000. By 2013, in the aftermath of the recession of 2007 to 2009, 12 percent of families were in debt and, on average, their debt exceeded their assets by $32,000.

The increase in average indebtedness between 2007 and 2013 for families in debt was mainly the result of falling home equity and rising student loan balances. In 2007, 3 percent of families in debt had negative home equity: They owed, on average, $16,000 more than their homes were worth. In 2013, that share was 19 percent of families in debt, and they owed, on average, $45,000 more than their homes were worth. The share of families in debt that had outstanding student debt rose from 56 percent in 2007 to 64 percent in 2013, and the average amount of their loan balances increased from $29,000 to $41,000.

[gclayjr]

Silver,

You might be accurate in telling me that I'm broke, but the article indicates that America as a whole is doing pretty good, because the top 10% are making up for the losses of those of us in the other 90%, so I'm sure you're doing great!

Regards,

George Clay

[David13]

I'll admit it if I can get a free silver coin out of it. Then I'd feel all prosperous, and rich, and ... and stuff.
dc

[Silver]

Silver,

You might be accurate in telling me that I'm broke, but the article indicates that America as a whole is doing pretty good, because the top 10% are making up for the losses of those of us in the other 90%, so I'm sure you're doing great!

Regards,

George Clay

The wealth gap is bad and getting worse. The trend is not your friend.

If a few of you will begin to save real money instead of debt notes, it will make me quite happy. I never expect everyone to listen to me, but a handful would be nice.

[Silver]

I'll admit it if I can get a free silver coin out of it. Then I'd feel all prosperous, and rich, and ... and stuff.
dc

"Free" is such a curious word.

[David13]

I'll admit it if I can get a free silver coin out of it. Then I'd feel all prosperous, and rich, and ... and stuff.
dc

"Free" is such a curious word.

Unfettered by government regulation?
dc

[Silver]

I'll admit it if I can get a free silver coin out of it. Then I'd feel all prosperous, and rich, and ... and stuff.
dc

"Free" is such a curious word.

Unfettered by government regulation?
dc

Now that's a definition I like, but it seems different from your original usage.

[David13]

I'll admit it if I can get a free silver coin out of it. Then I'd feel all prosperous, and rich, and ... and stuff.
dc

"Free" is such a curious word.

Unfettered by government regulation?
dc

Now that's a definition I like, but it seems different from your original usage.

It just came to mind when you posted "curious".
Could we say "free" is a complicated word?
dc

[Silver]

"Free" is such a curious word.

Unfettered by government regulation?
dc

Now that's a definition I like, but it seems different from your original usage.

It just came to mind when you posted "curious".
Could we say "free" is a complicated word?
dc

Ever since Bill Clinton questioned the definition of "is," it seems that Americans are free to define words how ever they like. Therefore, I'll not hold you in contempt for thinking of "free" as a "complicated word."

[Silver]

"Free" is such a curious word.

Unfettered by government regulation?
dc

Now that's a definition I like, but it seems different from your original usage.

It just came to mind when you posted "curious".
Could we say "free" is a complicated word?
dc

I could also inquire as to what the word "soon" means in your lexicon.

[gclayjr]

Silver,

The wealth gap is bad and getting worse. The trend is not your friend.

You are right,

and

I'm assuming we're both sophisticated enough that neither of us actually has to put in little smiley faces to make sure that other one knows when we are joking.

Regards,

Georg Clayu

[Silver]

Silver,

The wealth gap is bad and getting worse. The trend is not your friend.

You are right,

and

I'm assuming we're both sophisticated enough that neither of us actually has to put in little smiley faces to make sure that other one knows when we are joking.

Regards,

Georg Clayu

Yeah, I'm not much for the use of emojis.

[David13]

Unfettered by government regulation?
dc

Now that's a definition I like, but it seems different from your original usage.

It just came to mind when you posted "curious".
Could we say "free" is a complicated word?
dc

Ever since Bill Clinton questioned the definition of "is," it seems that Americans are free to define words how ever they like. Therefore, I'll not hold you in contempt for thinking of "free" as a "complicated word."

I can assure you that there is nothing in my life based upon anything that character said or did. I began questioning the meaning of words a long long time ago, about when that guy was in elementary school.

The only thing I learned from him is how rotten politicians can be, beyond my expectations.

Now, have you appointed yourself a Judge? If so, that holds no authority, you know.

Free is a complicated word in the sense that there may be no such thing. Like "equality". Is there any "equality" of anything, or anyone?

Now, when I first posted free, that would have most appropriately meant, of no cost to me. Would that technically be free? Not necessarily if someone else paid for it.

But all in all, one way or another it indeed would have been unfettered by government regulation, would it not?

Last, but not least, is there a question about my usage of the word soon? At this time, there is no question pending.
dc

[David13]

Unfettered by government regulation?
dc

Now that's a definition I like, but it seems different from your original usage.

It just came to mind when you posted "curious".
Could we say "free" is a complicated word?
dc

I could also inquire as to what the word "soon" means in your lexicon.

You could. True. Did you? Do you?
dc

[BeNotDeceived]

Silver,

The wealth gap is bad and getting worse. The trend is not your friend.

You are right,

and

I'm assuming we're both sophisticated enough that neither of us actually has to put in little smiley faces to make sure that other one knows when we are joking.

Regards,

Georg Clayu

Curious if you know the secret wink?

Sorta like a secret handshake, only better. :ymparty:

[ebenezerarise]

I'll lay up my treasures in heaven, thank you.

And define "broke".

I don't own a home. I have little savings. I have no debt. And I have sufficient for my needs.

Would I like the commanded "financial reserve"?

Sure! Who wouldn't?

But there are many poor among me...and, well...you know...

[Silver]

Now that's a definition I like, but it seems different from your original usage.

It just came to mind when you posted "curious".
Could we say "free" is a complicated word?
dc

I could also inquire as to what the word "soon" means in your lexicon.

You could. True. Did you? Do you?
dc

Yes, I do. Your location, under your avatar, seems to indicate that you'll be relocating from LA to UT, soon. I was wondering what "soon" means in your timeline.

[eddie]

I'll admit it if I can get a free silver coin out of it. Then I'd feel all prosperous, and rich, and ... and stuff.
dc

And stuff, haha!

[Silver]

If you take away Amazon, retail establishments are suffering which is another sign that the once-mighty consumer is tapped out.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-06-0 ... smal-chart

"Worst Since Lehman" - The State Of The US Consumer In One Dismal Chart

by Tyler Durden
Jun 9, 2017 5:45 AM

U.S. companies (other than Amazon) that depend on consumers' discretionary income are at their weakest 'since Lehman'.

As Bloomberg notes, for Doug Ramsey, chief investment officer at Leuthold Group LLC, this makes them cheap enough to be a “contrarian pick." He cited a ratio between two versions of the S&P 500 Consumer Discretionary Index: one that weighs Amazon and every other stock equally, and the other that accounts for market value and gives about 10 times more weight to the online retailer. As the chart below shows, the ratio fell to the lowest level of U.S. stocks’ eight-year bull market on May 31, and closed near that level Wednesday.

What is also worth noting is the 'break' happened when The Fed stopped QE3...

no more spending money.jpg (31.02 KiB) Viewed 1727 times

Central Bank balance sheets rule the world... until they don't.

[Matchmaker]

I'll lay up my treasures in heaven, thank you.

And define "broke".

I don't own a home. I have little savings. I have no debt. And I have sufficient for my needs.

Would I like the commanded "financial reserve"?

Sure! Who wouldn't?

But there are many poor among me...and, well...you know...

I especially like your last line. It tells me you are a good and charitable person.

I have been pondering the topic of being broke a lot lately, and I define broke as having enough for my basic needs with a little extra savings, after paying tithing and taxes, of course, but not enough to buy a new vehicle, pay off my mortgage, or take a long-dreamed-of trip abroad.

I wonder now, did I disappoint the Lord because I did not become wealthy in this life? Considering the blessings I was given of a knowledge of the gospel and a good business education, should I have made achieving financial prosperity a higher priority than I did? Did I squander some of my talents when I should have been multiplying them? Had I achieved a greater degree of financial success, I could have done a lot of good things with the money.

[Silver]

I'll lay up my treasures in heaven, thank you.

And define "broke".

I don't own a home. I have little savings. I have no debt. And I have sufficient for my needs.

Would I like the commanded "financial reserve"?

Sure! Who wouldn't?

But there are many poor among me...and, well...you know...

I'm only reporting facts and reminding us all of one of the commandments. No intention to single anybody out. Obviously, if your obeying the commandments, you are, by definition, laying up treasure in heaven.

[Silver]

You're also broke because the money in your wallet (this applies to the US, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, etc.) is not real. Most of what you consider to be your wealth is denominated in paper notes that were created on a computer. Whether you have money in the bank or stocks at your broker, they are based on financial instruments that will fail. Because there are so many Federal Reserve Hiney Wipes in circulation (mostly digitally), the true value of many assets is hard for most novices to determine.

Here's one fantastic example of misplaced trust:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-06-0 ... gm-and-bmw

Tesla Is Now Bigger Than Ford, GM, And BMW...

by Tyler Durden
Jun 9, 2017 9:52 AM

With today's near 1% rise to a new record high, Tesla just became the 4th largest (by market cap) automaker in the world - surpassing BMW at over $61 billion.

Tesla passed GM and Ford by market cap in April, and now ranks 4th in the world behind Toyota, Daimler, Volkswagen.

Tesla Market Capitalization.jpg (30.1 KiB) Viewed 1690 times

If you look at the different auto companies on paper, it does seem a bit preposterous, where Tesla is at this moment, versus some of the more established auto companies," Jessica Caldwell, director of industry analysis with automotive research firm Edmunds, said in an interview with CBC's On The Money on Monday.

Tesla sold 76,285 cars last year. That compares to over 10 million for GM worldwide, 6.65 million for Ford, and 2.36 million for BMW.

market cap per car sold.jpg (23.19 KiB) Viewed 1690 times

"I think Tesla has had a very high market cap for a long time, so I don't think this comes necessarily as a surprise, but when you compare it to someone like Ford [or GM] who has a wealth of resources, it does seem a little out of whack," Caldwell said.

[Durzan]

Gold and silver aren't really that much better than fiat currency. Really the only difference is that you would be putting your faith in a worthless piece of metal vs a worthless piece of paper. The only things silver and gold are actually good for is conducting electricity and possibly preventing rust, but other than that, there is just as much fiat in gold-backed currencies as there is in paper currencies.

[BeNotDeceived]

Plenty more diagrams of doom

http://www.feasta.org/2017/01/22/end-of ... e-know-it/

[Michelle]

I admit it in a certain context, because I don't consider either paper currency or gold or silver to be wealth. (They say the streets in heaven are paved with gold. So really, you are trying to collect the asphalt of heaven and count yourself rich. How foolish is that? lol) I believe debt will prove the downfall of many otherwise faithful saints. Think of the early saints asked to leave New York for Ohio. Those that could sold their farms, those that couldn't left them at a loss. How would you do that today? Your debtors will be paid.

Any physical wealth moth and rust can corrupt and thieves can break through and steal. Skills, those are yours to use and share. No one can take a knowledge of edible plants, of cultivating the earth, of character to work until your brow is sweaty: self reliance
like Adam and Eve.

Think of the return you get on planting seeds! One single seed may multiply in to tens or hundreds. What bank gives you that kind of return on your investment? God desires to provide for his saints in his own way. I don't think it was an accident Adam was told to till the earth. I don't believe most modern advances are blessings so much as the Lord meeting us where we are at, but there will come a time when we must go back to his way. We cannot trust in the arm of flesh to protect or provide for us. I'll have to look for the reference, but we have been warned the day will come when we will wear what we sow, eat what we grow. Where we must be independent of every other sphere on earth.

If you want to be rich, do what the prophets have counseled. Get out of debt, have a little savings, have a 3 month supply of food you are accustomed to and a year to keep you alive. Plant a garden and fruit trees if you can. Borrow a neighbors garden if they will let you. (I had three gardens one year at other people's houses.)

I always tell my kids, as a general rule, the person without debts is the richest person in the neighborhood.

http://jod.mrm.org/1/248

". . .you are left with nothing more than a pile of gold, what good would it do you? You could not eat it, drink it, wear it, or carry it off where you could have something to eat. The time will come that gold will hold no comparison in value to a bushel of wheat. Gold is not to be compared with it in value. Why would it be precious to you now? Simply because you could get gold for it? Gold is good for nothing, only as men value it. It is no better than a piece of iron, a piece of limestone, or a piece of sandstone, and it is not half so good as the soil from which we raise our wheat, and other necessaries of life." Brigham Young Journal of Discourses 1 page 250.