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If this were true, I believe US-Americans would lead a more frugal life and avoid unnecessary expenses in an attempt to save as much money as possible for cases

If this were true, I believe US-Americans would lead a more frugal life and avoid unnecessary expenses in an attempt to save as much money as possible for cases of emergency.

scarface74 7y ago
So how pray tell do you “save enough” in the case of a medical bill with no insurance. For instance, this person had insurance and it still cost $877K to deliver triplets. (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/16/why-does-it-cost-32093-just-to-give-birth-in-america https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/16/why-does-it-...) The average cost of college for a state school over four years is $80K (https://www.valuepenguin.com/student-loans/average-cost-of-college https://www.valuepenguin.com/student-loans/average-cost-of-c...) and consider that the average household has 2 kids. How much would you have to save to be able to afford to take a 3-6 months in paternal/maternal leave? How much would you need to save if you were out of work for six months? What if you were out of work because you were sick or had a sick child? Now you have a double whammy of no job and no insurance - with medical bills.
- wolfgke 7y ago
  > The average cost of college for a state school over four years is $80K (https://www.valuepenguin.com/student-loans/average-cost-of-c... https://www.valuepenguin.com/student-loans/average-cost-of-c...) and consider that the average household has 2 kids. > How much would you have to save to be able to afford to take a 3-6 months in paternal/maternal leave? Only have kids if you can afford it.
  - scarface74 7y ago
    Yeah that will work.... Guess what happens to the economy and especially the pay as you go social security/Medicare programs when the retired/worker ratio increases? Are people not suppose to have children just in case their children get sick or they have a difficult pregnancy and they may have a $50K medical bill? The median household income in the US is about $63K a year (https://dqydj.com/household-income-percentile-calculator/ https://dqydj.com/household-income-percentile-calculator/)

If this were true, I believe US-Americans would lead a more frugal life and avoid unnecessary expenses in an attempt to save as much money as possible for cases of emergency.

scarface74 7y ago

So how pray tell do you “save enough” in the case of a medical bill with no insurance. For instance, this person had insurance and it still cost $877K to deliver triplets. (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/16/why-does-it-cost-32093-just-to-give-birth-in-america https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/16/why-does-it-...) The average cost of college for a state school over four years is $80K (https://www.valuepenguin.com/student-loans/average-cost-of-college https://www.valuepenguin.com/student-loans/average-cost-of-c...) and consider that the average household has 2 kids. How much would you have to save to be able to afford to take a 3-6 months in paternal/maternal leave? How much would you need to save if you were out of work for six months? What if you were out of work because you were sick or had a sick child? Now you have a double whammy of no job and no insurance - with medical bills.

wolfgke 7y ago
> The average cost of college for a state school over four years is $80K (https://www.valuepenguin.com/student-loans/average-cost-of-c... https://www.valuepenguin.com/student-loans/average-cost-of-c...) and consider that the average household has 2 kids. > How much would you have to save to be able to afford to take a 3-6 months in paternal/maternal leave? Only have kids if you can afford it.
- scarface74 7y ago
  Yeah that will work.... Guess what happens to the economy and especially the pay as you go social security/Medicare programs when the retired/worker ratio increases? Are people not suppose to have children just in case their children get sick or they have a difficult pregnancy and they may have a $50K medical bill? The median household income in the US is about $63K a year (https://dqydj.com/household-income-percentile-calculator/ https://dqydj.com/household-income-percentile-calculator/)