Savings Milestone
The Department of Commerce calculates the personal savings rate of Americans like this: after-tax income - total spending = savings. In 1984 the rate was 10%. In 2002 the rate dropped below 3%. This June, our savings rate fell to 0%. Yup, zero.

The United States is on track to record a savings rate for the year below 1 percent, which would be the lowest since the depths of the Great Depression, when the rate turned negative.

But, really, don't worry. Nothing to see here. Just smoke and mirrors. You've still got your house, right?