Although my remarks today concentrate on the behavior of household saving and overall national saving, I also want to spend some time on a related issue: What is the evidence on the saving of minority households? Much has been written about the adequacy of retirement saving for many American households and the wealth accumulation of different income cohorts.
But what do we know about the saving of minority households, and does it differ from the saving of low-income households, where minorities are disproportionately concentrated? Let me turn first to the bigger picture. Personal saving, as measured by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, is essentially the amount of after-tax income left after household bills are paid.