Opinion: Why do we believe Americans spend too much money on coffee and avocado toast?
By Helaine Olen Helaine Olen Opinion writer focusing on politics, economics and American life Bio Follow Opinion writer April 8 at 2:34 PM Suze Orman is furious. The target of the popular personal finance author’s ire is not the high cost of education, nor soaring health-care expenses.
But none of this is a secret. I’m one among many people who routinely point out that the idea Americans could solve their long-term financial woes by staying out of coffee shops and giving up avocado toast is a myth. But it’s a myth that won’t die.The idea that Americans are “peeing” their funds away as result of caffeinated beverages dates to the 1990s, when coffee shops such as Starbucks were gaining in popularity even as the average American’s savings rate was falling well below 10 percent.
But the myth lives on because while not everyone realizes the systemic nature of the problem, people do know that most households’ finances are under pressure — how could they not when more than half the adult population has less than $1,000 in savings? And small personal spending — be it on lattes or avocado toast — is something we intuit to be in one’s direct control. It’s in our face: You’ll see someone carrying a latte, but you are hardly likely to know about their rent or insulin bill.
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