Jaspreet Singh: Are Americans Really Running Out of Money?
Written by
Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy
Edited by
Daria Uhlig
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Jaspreet Singh, CEO of Briefs Media and host of “The Minority Mindset Show,” recently pondered whether Americans are really running out of money. Of course, inflation has taken an enormous toll on Americans’ wallets, he said.
In a recent Instagram post, Singh said that at the beginning of 2024, “Americans are running out of money because inflation has been outpacing wages.”
This sentiment was echoed recently in a MarketWatch survey, which found that “48.6% of Americans consider themselves to be ‘broke,’ and 66.2% feel they are ‘living paycheck to paycheck.'”
This, Singh added, was further underscored in August, when the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco published research showing that low- and middle-class Americans were running out of money because, in Singh’s words, “they’re digging into their disposable cash.”
Indeed, in 2024, households that represent the lowest 80% by income saw their savings drop 13% below what they would have been in a “no-pandemic scenario,” according to the research.
Now, in September, Singh said that this sentiment has been reiterated by executives, such as Todd Vasos, Dollar General CEO, who said that the company’s earnings dropped due to its “core customer” feeling financially pinched.
“Inflation has continued to negatively impact these households, with more than 60% claiming they have had to sacrifice on purchasing basic necessities due to the higher cost of those items, in addition to paying more for expenses such as rent, utilities and healthcare,” Vasos said in the earnings call, according to the transcript.
However, Singh also noted that many Americans who feel financially stressed are actually continuing to spend their money.
“A growing number of Americans [are] saying, I’m getting stressed out about money, so I’m going to take a vacation — to Japan,” said Singh, referring to a CNBC article which noted that “travel spending among American households continues to outpace its pre-pandemic levels.”
So are Americans really running out of money?
Looking at the latest data, it still seems that many people in the country feel financially stressed. The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index released on Sept. 24 showed a decline for the month — the largest since August 2021, according to a press statement.
“It’s never good to see consumer confidence fall this much,” said Jamie Cox, managing partner for the Harris Financial Group. “Consumers are clearly concerned about the implications of the upcoming election, the increasing conflict around the world and the stubbornly high cost of food and credit.”
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