Credit card commercials glamorize going into debt

You don't have to be an economist to despair over the financial news we read these days. Recent business headlines have included the following: ''What to do if you can't pay mortgage on time,'' ''Housing downturn could lead to deep recession,'' and my favorite, ''Revised savings rate still nothing to brag about.''

That last story revealed that the annual rate of savings among Americans in 2006 was -- are you ready for this -- .04 percent. Translated into cash, that means we saved about half a cent for every dollar we earned. I'll grant you that times are tough but half a cent? At that rate, a household earning $50,000 a year would sock away a grand total of $20 a year. Don't spend it all in one place.

We are all saving significantly less money these days. Twenty-five years ago the savings rate in this country was about 11 percent, or 11 cents for every dollar we earned, 275 times as much as we save today. At that rate, our $50,000-a-year household tucked away $5,500 a year; or about $450 a month.

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