ballsalsa said:

keyser_soze said:

ballsalsa said:

keyser_soze said:

it's pretty simple. money in the bank doesn't equal wealth when the cost of living is sky high.

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I'll ask again.
how are they putting more money in the bank with lower income and higher taxes if the cost of living is sky high?

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not all of them are.

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Of course not.  We were discussing the median.  By the way, 69% of Americans have less than $1000 in savings, so it looks like the Belgians have us beat by several miles on that metric as well.
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/19/heres-how-many-americans-have-nothing-at-all-in-savings.html

I'll ask again.
How is the median belgian household banking more money than the median U.S. household when they have a lower income, higher taxes, and a sky high cost of living?

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SirTripAlot said:

Thats a good question ball....I will take swing at it. It would make sense that a factor that could effect the saving rate is a countrys tax rate. The higher the governments deductions, the less discretionary income to save. Spain and Portugal have low tax rates and high savings ratios.

This doesnt fit the groove of Belgium as they have high taxes....yet high savings. I can only devise that the culture has something to do with it.....are Belgium's citizenry referred to as "consumers" in the same manner as Americans?

Can you explain it better to me?

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keyser_soze said:

ballsalsa said:

I'll ask again.
How is the median belgian household banking more money than the median U.S. household when they have a lower income, higher taxes, and a sky high cost of living?

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like i keep saying, the amount of money doesn't matter when cost of living is sky high.

why do people in california bank more money than everyone else? because cost of living is adjusted to wages. product prices are then adjusted to wages. everything is relative.


and also, like i said before....belgians on average save more because they simply buy less.

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SirTripAlot said:

Thats a good question ball....I will take swing at it. It would make sense that a factor that could effect the saving rate is a countrys tax rate. The higher the governments deductions, the less discretionary income to save. Spain and Portugal have low tax rates and high savings ratios.

This doesnt fit the groove of Belgium as they have high taxes....yet high savings. I can only devise that the culture has something to do with it.....are Belgium's citizenry referred to as "consumers" in the same manner as Americans?

Can you explain it better to me?

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Quote:

Household spending, including government transfers, is the actual individual consumption that it is equal to households' consumption expenditure plus those (individual) expenditures of general government and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISHs) that directly benefit households, such as, health care and education.

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ballsalsa said:

SirTripAlot said:

Thats a good question ball....I will take swing at it. It would make sense that a factor that could effect the saving rate is a countrys tax rate. The higher the governments deductions, the less discretionary income to save. Spain and Portugal have low tax rates and high savings ratios.

This doesnt fit the groove of Belgium as they have high taxes....yet high savings. I can only devise that the culture has something to do with it.....are Belgium's citizenry referred to as "consumers" in the same manner as Americans?

Can you explain it better to me?

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keyser knows the answer, he just doesn't want to admit it.

The "greater fiscal responsibility" theory doesn't pass the smell test to me.  Median wealth is 3X higher while median income is about 3/4ths. Taxes are about double.  How low would the standard of living have to be to make up that discrepancy?

https://data.oecd.org/hha/household-spending.htm
Household spending as a % of GDP:
Belgium: 51.2
USA: 68.1

That doesn't seem like enough.

Edit: Here's a hint from the link-

Quote:

Household spending, including government transfers, is the actual individual consumption that it is equal to households' consumption expenditure plus those (individual) expenditures of general government and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISHs) that directly benefit households, such as, health care and education.

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keyser_soze said:

ballsalsa said:

I'll ask again.
how are they putting more money in the bank with lower income and higher taxes if the cost of living is sky high?

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not all of them are.
http://www.xpats.com/one-three-belgians-unable-save-money

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akira_akuma said:

dude, i don't buy it, smells like shit. peee-ewww.

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