Lowest-income families spend 40% of their money on what economists label luxuries

It turns out that all Americans, regardless of income, spend a large percentage of their income on what economists categorize as luxuries. People who make the most money spend the biggest chunk of their incomes on luxury goods, but even the poorest households spend a significant amount on luxuries, according to an analysis released recently by Deutsche Bank Research. The wealthiest families (the top fifth of earners) spend around 65% of their incomes on luxury goods and 35% on necessities, according to the study, which looked at spending habits between 1984 and 2014. Middle-income households weren’t far behind: They spend 50% on luxuries and 50% on necessities. Even the lowest-income families

Move over millennials, members of Generation Z are ready to work

The American economy added 222,000 new jobs in June — and many of those positions were likely taken by members of Generation Z. Precise definitions vary, but Generation Z generally comprises those who were born in the 1990s and came of age amid events such as the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the 2008 financial crisis. In recent years, the first wave of Generation Z workers have turned 18. More of these people are entering the workforce — by 2021 it is expected they will constitute a fifth of all workers. Among people ages 16 to 19, the unemployment rate dropped to 13.3% in June on a seasonally adjusted basis, from 14.3% the month before, according to data released Friday from the Bureau of

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  There's still one giant problem with the US jobs picture

  CNBC
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  Canada jobless rate falls to 6.5%

  AFP

Why getting a 10-year-old car is a savvy move

Want to make sure your car won’t wreck your budget? Here’s a chart that might help. In a corner of Reddit devoted to visual representations of data, users are buzzing about a graphic that looks at different approaches to car ownership. The graphic, shown below, indicates that the cheapest thing to do is to buy a 10-year-old used car, keep it for five years, and then repeat. The most expensive approach is buy a brand new car, keep it for five years, and then do that again. Is it ever cheaper to go with a brand new car rather than a used car? Yes. The graphic indicates that if you buy new and keep that ride for 20 years, that will cost you less than buying a three-year-old used vehicle that you