Of course we were the minority. Most people live exactly at their means (including whatever they can borrow). I understand, I like more space as well: I like my toys as much as everybody. I just believed my future was better if I didn't get myself into debt now.
Imagine doing that for your whole life.
Sadly for some of us (myself included at many times in my life), we just can't make those decisions as easily as we hoped. Willpower and determination seemed so easy when I was young.
In other words, you can give future you (6.5 years in the future) a raise over 100% of your current income by beginning to save some percentage of it (e.g. 10%). At 6.5 years, the 90% you can spend will be greater than your 100% from 6.5 years prior, and you get to continue to save 10%, further increasing both your income and your nest egg.
I think it would be far better defined as learned helplessness in financial matters instead of being stupid. They can be overall smart people, but past experience has taught them views of money that are not beneficial to financial stability. They might even be able to give a lesson on good financial decision making, but on an emotional level they have trouble applying it to themselves.
A much more jarring example of this is behaviors resulting from food insecurity in children. Children who come from very food insecure situations will hoard food even when they are now in a food secure environment. Often this will include hoarding food that does not keep, and any attempts to change this behavior just result in the hoarding being better hidden. From what I remember the advice of foster/adoptive parents in this situation is to provide food meant for hoarding that the child can stockpile and to let the next few years of food security slowly get the child to adjust, recognizing that some level of food hoarding might occur throughout their lifetime.
Which I think is to the gp's point...
Not only is 40 hours / week of a minimum wage job totally livable, the author of this book would be able to save over 50% of such salary. Is it unusual? Yes. Is it easy? Haaaail no. But impossible? Please.
Here's a hint, pithy books written by those born into wealth about how the poor just don't have discipline aren't generally worth the paper they're printed on.
I understand, and share, your frustration with poor shaming. But please understand nobody here is doing that.
The one avoiding difficult conversations is you.
- Covered (at least partially) by their employer (like most Americans)
- Covered by Medicaid
- Heavily subsidized under the ACA