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Disposable income is income minus taxes. That money drops fast when you factor in America's extremely high rent, the fact most Americans need a car+insurance+ga

Disposable income is income minus taxes. That money drops fast when you factor in America's extremely high rent, the fact most Americans need a car+insurance+gas, many pay for their own health care, and other various fees. Plus people who do have some savings are often paranoid and save it because they know car trouble or one trip to the doctor will financially ruin them. Flat numerical values alone don't tell the full story. It's like assuming Irish are all rich because of their colossal GDP--and not considering that it's due to companies shuffling money around.

ggreer 3y ago
Average health insurance cost in the US is $5,250 per year, which would put disposable income just below Norway. The median American would need an extra $15,000 in expenses each year to have less spending money than the median German. To get down to UK or Italy levels of disposable income, the median American would need an extra $20,000/year in expenses. Cars, housing, and health insurance aren't that expensive, especially for the median American. Typical Americans really are wealthier than typical people in other developed countries. As you said, they own cars (which tend to be bigger and more expensive than typical cars elsewhere). They also tend to have bigger houses with more amenities (air conditioning, dishwasher, clothes washer/dryer, kitchen island, etc). Some may consider these uses of wealth to be gauche or indicative of something unhealthy about American way of life, but that doesn't change the fact that they are uses of wealth.
- justworkout 3y ago
  And by spending money on bigger, expensive cars and bigger, expensive amenities... they end up with less money to spend on travel. Plus there's the fact Americans need to spend more on flights and spend more time to visit Asia or Europe than people in those respective regions do. You can take a taxi and eat at restaurants daily absolutely anywhere in Asia with a fraction of the median US salary. The cost of many things is simply higher in the US. You can get paid $20 an hour, but if a basic sandwich costs $15, you're not saving as much as someone who gets paid $10 and can buy $2 sandwiches. But on paper, the person making $20/hour has tremendously higher disposable income.
- deleted 3y ago
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ggreer 3y ago

Average health insurance cost in the US is $5,250 per year, which would put disposable income just below Norway. The median American would need an extra $15,000 in expenses each year to have less spending money than the median German. To get down to UK or Italy levels of disposable income, the median American would need an extra $20,000/year in expenses. Cars, housing, and health insurance aren't that expensive, especially for the median American. Typical Americans really are wealthier than typical people in other developed countries. As you said, they own cars (which tend to be bigger and more expensive than typical cars elsewhere). They also tend to have bigger houses with more amenities (air conditioning, dishwasher, clothes washer/dryer, kitchen island, etc). Some may consider these uses of wealth to be gauche or indicative of something unhealthy about American way of life, but that doesn't change the fact that they are uses of wealth.

justworkout 3y ago
And by spending money on bigger, expensive cars and bigger, expensive amenities... they end up with less money to spend on travel. Plus there's the fact Americans need to spend more on flights and spend more time to visit Asia or Europe than people in those respective regions do. You can take a taxi and eat at restaurants daily absolutely anywhere in Asia with a fraction of the median US salary. The cost of many things is simply higher in the US. You can get paid $20 an hour, but if a basic sandwich costs $15, you're not saving as much as someone who gets paid $10 and can buy $2 sandwiches. But on paper, the person making $20/hour has tremendously higher disposable income.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]