site banner
birb_cromble  1d ago (text post)   143 thread views

Qeekly Finance Thread - 10/3/2026

A weekly thread to discuss financial matters - from personal all the way up to global.

Ground Rules

  • Remember that we're all just Internet randos. Don't bet your life savings on a hot tip from this thread.
  • Keep culture war in the culture war thread. Yes, global events may impact our personal finances, but that does not mean we have to incessantly harp on culture war aspects here. If you are going to discuss it, please stick to the practical impacts of it on an individual level.
  • Be kind. Remember that everyone here comes from different circumstances. We all have different resources available and different risk tolerances.
  • Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Better is better. Celebrate people when they take a step up and work to move their finances in the right direction. Don't flame out because they haven't followed what you consider the optimal path. Everybody has to start somewhere.
1
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

I've been reading up more on the federal personal savings rate and it's a pretty interesting concept.

https://www.bea.gov/data/income-saving/personal-saving-rate

The U.S. personal saving rate is personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income. In other words, it's the percentage of people's incomes left after they pay taxes and spend money.

I haven't found an exact definition of what is included and what isn't, but that link is probably a good starting point.

Do you think it's a useful metric? On one hand, it's fairly coarse grained, but on the other hand, it seems like it's very difficult to game for exactly the same reason.

The fact that it's trending from a peak (excluding COVID) in the 1960s is interesting. I haven't found many explanations for why that is occuring. I've seen arguments that it's due to the real cost of living increasing faster than wages, and I've seen arguments that cheap debt and easy mobility make saving less important. I'm not sure if I believe either of them. I'd be interested in any other theories you might have.

Personal saving is equal to personal income less personal outlays and personal taxes; it may generally be viewed as the portion of personal income that is used either to provide funds to capital markets or to invest in real assets such as residences.

Emphasis mine. Does this mean that a mortgage payment is part of the personal saving rate? Presumably only the principal part if so, rather than taxes/interest. But if that's the case, the national rate seems impossibly low.

My understanding is that your mortgage on your primary residence doesn't count, but "capital improvements" on your residence does count.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats