4 ms·

I don’t know what you’re looking at. On the questionnaire I see the first question is how many accounts, then what institution and how much in each.

gruez 2y ago
>and how much in each. that question only exists for certain types of accounts. On page 13, compare >Have any checking accounts? (up to 6) > ... >Amount in account with >Have any IRA/Keogh accounts? >For each person ask: >Amount in each type Note the lack of "each" in the former. Moreover, on the main page[1] it's explicitly stated that figures are per-family, not per account. >For each variable and classification group, the charts show the percent of families in the group who have the item and the median and mean amounts of holdings for those who have any. It's further stated that 98.6% of families have "transaction accounts", so the effect of excluding people without transaction accounts is minimal. [1] https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scf-documentation.htm#SCF-interactive-chart https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scf-documentation.htm...
- relaxing 2y ago
  You’re parsing the phrasing beyond any rational meaning or common sense. The person administering the survey would not ask about multiple accounts then record the value of only one. (Which one?) The documentation you’re looking at refers to one specific data visualization. Transaction accounts are not savings accounts. Give it a rest.
  - gruez 2y ago
    >The documentation you’re looking at refers to one specific data visualization. Transaction accounts are not savings accounts. Give it a rest. First, the original topic of this conversation was: "The median bank account balance is $8000:" The linked bankrate.com article mentions "savings accounts" in the title, and the subsequent reply also uses that term. However, the bankrate.com article body clarifies it's actually talking about "transaction accounts" as defined by the SCF, not just "savings accounts". "The median transaction account balance is $8,000, according to the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), with the most recently published data from 2022. Transaction accounts include savings, checking, money market and call accounts, as well as prepaid debit cards." Yes, there's some loose definitions being used and conflation going on, but when it comes to the question of "can Americans cover a $1000 emergency expense?", it doesn't materially impair the "$8000 median account balance" argument. Second, "one specific data visualization" you talk about is the source of the $8000 figure. If you select "transaction accounts" in the dropdown, you'll see the latest figure is $8.0 (in thousands of dollars). https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scf/dataviz/scf/chart/ https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scf/dataviz/scf/chart... Third, on the topic of "parsing the phrasing beyond any rational meaning or common sense", I actually can't find any place on the fed's site that suggests that the figures (eg. the $8k figure) are per-account. For instance the above chart has a title of "Transaction accounts by all families", which at best is ambiguous as to whether it's per family or per account. It seems like someone just made the suggestion and others took it at face value.

gruez 2y ago

>and how much in each. that question only exists for certain types of accounts. On page 13, compare >Have any checking accounts? (up to 6) > ... >Amount in account with >Have any IRA/Keogh accounts? >For each person ask: >Amount in each type Note the lack of "each" in the former. Moreover, on the main page[1] it's explicitly stated that figures are per-family, not per account. >For each variable and classification group, the charts show the percent of families in the group who have the item and the median and mean amounts of holdings for those who have any. It's further stated that 98.6% of families have "transaction accounts", so the effect of excluding people without transaction accounts is minimal. [1] https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scf-documentation.htm#SCF-interactive-chart https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scf-documentation.htm...

relaxing 2y ago
You’re parsing the phrasing beyond any rational meaning or common sense. The person administering the survey would not ask about multiple accounts then record the value of only one. (Which one?) The documentation you’re looking at refers to one specific data visualization. Transaction accounts are not savings accounts. Give it a rest.
- gruez 2y ago
  >The documentation you’re looking at refers to one specific data visualization. Transaction accounts are not savings accounts. Give it a rest. First, the original topic of this conversation was: "The median bank account balance is $8000:" The linked bankrate.com article mentions "savings accounts" in the title, and the subsequent reply also uses that term. However, the bankrate.com article body clarifies it's actually talking about "transaction accounts" as defined by the SCF, not just "savings accounts". "The median transaction account balance is $8,000, according to the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), with the most recently published data from 2022. Transaction accounts include savings, checking, money market and call accounts, as well as prepaid debit cards." Yes, there's some loose definitions being used and conflation going on, but when it comes to the question of "can Americans cover a $1000 emergency expense?", it doesn't materially impair the "$8000 median account balance" argument. Second, "one specific data visualization" you talk about is the source of the $8000 figure. If you select "transaction accounts" in the dropdown, you'll see the latest figure is $8.0 (in thousands of dollars). https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scf/dataviz/scf/chart/ https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scf/dataviz/scf/chart... Third, on the topic of "parsing the phrasing beyond any rational meaning or common sense", I actually can't find any place on the fed's site that suggests that the figures (eg. the $8k figure) are per-account. For instance the above chart has a title of "Transaction accounts by all families", which at best is ambiguous as to whether it's per family or per account. It seems like someone just made the suggestion and others took it at face value.