Good luck going forward. You are not alone in your situation.

makes good money. He is out of work now and we are not spending a dime except for phone and bills...millions have no chance of saving anything...can't make their current bills. Also, I have a small pension ...it helps.

They don't want to give things up. I know people who make good money and don't save at all. If you got it spend it, you can't take it with you.

brainwashed to blame individuals and not the system...no safety net...your fault, no retirement, your fault...meanwhile most people struggle to pay monthly bills. The fact is the deck is stacked against us. This depression could last for years you know. And those that caused it probably won't even be inconvenienced.

I have had this argument with people for years. You have to eliminate all of your debt, esp. student loans, and build up a year, two-years of emergency funds before you put money into your 401K. Your 401K is a long term risk mitigation strategy. With debts and no emergency fund, you expose yourself to short and medium term risks with no mitigation. For example, any income disruption for any length of time will compound itself because your debts will grow while you don't have income.

My tips are:

1. Don't borrow too much to get a degree. They are not worth the money.
2. Live with your parents or roommates until you've paid your debts and have met your savings goals.
3. Once you have a two year emergency fund, start putting money into your 401K.

High School education and college education is staggering.

People (Reichwingers in particular. Similar to how they confuse 'intimidation' with 'leadership'.) tend to confuse 'wants' with 'needs'. Distinguishing the two is a mark of maturity and wisdom. And, it turns out survival.

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs

Your interpretation may differ, but, I believe that for many people, a crisis such as we're facing now drives people toward the center "belonging and love" tier. Which, I think if you have both the mental and physical resources is normal and healthy. What needs to happen (what's not happening because of the dysfunction and lack of any sort of compassion in the currently installed maladministration) is those people who are securely in the "belonging and love" tier should reach down to people on the lower tiers as they are able to afford and help those trapped there to rise up to at least the B&L tier. This should be happening all of the time, but, particularly in a time of major crisis. I will admit my belief in these actions is somewhat selfish. As those who are on the lower tiers begin to rise and have something to lose they are less likely to do something desperate and stupid to improve their lot. Doing so in the end makes us all safer.

His theory is sound IMO. If you are homeless, starving, or very ill, you aren't likely to be focused upon self-actualization.

Absolutely reach down, when able, to help others rise up!

TY for posting.

A double reply.

Not sure why that hapened. 😊

When the wife and I were just about getting by the skin of our teeth, we decided to put away something every week. We started with $5. Any extra money that came our way, a birthday gift, a few dollars found in the wash, it went into a jar. It took a while but after a few months we had a little bit of money, then more. By the end of the year we had something like $400. Not much but every now and then it came in handy. a few years later we had a grand in a jar better jobs and worked down the debt we had built up.

Everything got better once we got rid of the credit card debt. One by one, 0 interest on one card worked down the highest % at a time on the others and then freedom. Not fast but we got there. It can be done.

From age 18 to 70 I was married for 12 years and I never had any children. In retirement, all of my hobbies make or save me money.

Baby steps, one at a time.

Good fortune to you.

This scenario for myself has played out 3 times in my lifetime. First time I had no clue as to how things worked as I had just moved out of childhood home, young, dumb, and soon to be married followed by a child.

Second time was some 19 yrs later, 2008. Way smarter thought I was prepared. No way to prepare for being unemployed close to 4 years. Sure I had money socked away more than 6 months. Didn't matter at that point.

Third time is now. Money put away, empty nester, sacrificed everything 2008-2010 to weather the storm. Set myself up during that time to enjoy fairly easy worry free living.

I completely changed my thinking during the great recession. A huge part of it is out of our control, no amount of preparedness will help when the rug is pulled from under you by people who "want all of it". Realized the "bootstraps" I'm supposed to be pulling myself
up by have been cut repeatedly.

AND THAT'S OK! Knowing the truth will set you free!