Via BBC News: Coronavirus: 'Lockdown was madness but saved us financially'. Excerpt:
The coronavirus pandemic has hit the global economy hard, but some people's personal finances have never looked better.
Since the US shut down en masse in March, mum-of-three Paula, who lives in New Hampshire, has paid off some $20,000 (£15,270) in credit card debt the family had racked up in the aftermath of an unexpectedly expensive work relocation.
The 35-year-old's job as an analyst ended in June, but her husband is still working and she benefited from a temporary $600 boost to weekly unemployment payments Congress approved in response to the crisis.
She put coronavirus stimulus cheques from the government towards the credit card payments, as well as thousands of dollars the family has saved since their children are not attending day care, preschool or summer camp. Already frugal when it came to eating out, the family has become even more so, she says. Their one big splurge has been bicycles.
"The quarantine has been very helpful to save money for us," she says. "We were at home, which was madness, pure madness but… I think it saved us financially."
Savings surge
The personal saving rate in the US - an average that reflects the share of income people have put away after spending and tax payments - nearly quadrupled between February and April, when it hit an all-time record of 33.6%.
Though lockdowns have eased since then, savings remain unusually high, boosted by government coronavirus assistance. In August, the personal saving rate in the US was 14.1% - greater than any pre-pandemic time since 1975.
The rise helped Americans' household wealth rebound to a record high in the three months to July, while overall debt declined for the first time since 2014.
"What's unique about this situation is that government programmes have supported household incomes but business closures limited their spending opportunities and so we've seen... record personal saving rates," says Sara Johnson, executive director of global economics at IHS Markit.
Rich-poor divide
Those circumstances are poised to change, however, as government aid runs out.
In the US, the $600 expansion to weekly unemployment payments expired at the end of July - and politicians in Washington remain at an impasse when it comes to further relief.
At a hearing in Washington this month, the head of America's central bank outlined the risks ahead.
"Savings are very high," Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said, citing government aid. "But 11 million people are out of work and the risk is that over time, they go through those savings and so their spending will decline, their ability to stay in their homes will decline and the economy will feel those negative effects."
