That myth’s hard proof is simple. Most Americans can’t save…anything…to begin with. You can’t afford a decent life on an average income, remember? Healthcare, childcare, elderly care, retirement, education, not to mention food, housing, and bills. It’s flatly impossible to pay for all that stuff on one average income, even two. So what is there left over to save? The answer is: nothing. That is precisely why most Americans don’t have any savings. None, zip, zilch. How much is “none”? The average American can’t even raise $500 for an emergency. Just five hundred dollars. Think about it. Think about how Americans live right on the razor’s edge. It’s vivid proof that nobody can save to begin with, therefore thrift must be a myth.