Makeover Monday: A Headline in Need is a Crisis Indeed!

Andy Kriebel found a gem that looked at American saving habits. I ran this thing through the normal process and made around 30 charts for this. Yes, 30 for 4 columns (I added a few). A few were dedicated to trying to do really crazy things (which I may still go back and add) that I ended up cutting due to time.

My viz:

Steve Wexler of Data Revelations pretty much has the patent on these things. See below on how he he took my viz to the next level! Truly an honor to see it evolved! This, kids, is why I love Makeover Monday.

As Steve found, you can shape the story a number of ways. Case in point: we’re trashing on millennials this round for not saving, but what I want to know is what the heck are seniors and baby boomers doing?! Kids, this is your retirement cash cow and max 20% of you have legit savings accounts? Scary story here! And yes, we have some good reasons why this is the case.

MA! Savings! Check it!

No savings account or $0. I expect the kids to have no money in savings. But seniors and baby boomers?!

Seniors up close. Those with real money in savings are higher than average, but everyone else, not so much.

Baby boomers, I’m looking at you kids. You’re looking too much like the generation before you.

I expect people 18-25 to have no money in accessible savings. It’s tied up in college, living day to day, and thinking Kraft Mac is gourmet. If you swap the story up to see that people have ANY savings accounts, I gotta give these kids a hand. But, man, did we bury the lede on this one: seniors and baby boomers – if this is legit – YIKES!

Side note: What’s not shown – IRAs, 401Ks, and a host of other “savings” accounts that are outside traditional savings accounts. Need a headline? Take a small share of data and spin it. Thanks, Steve, for helping me find my head.

Play around with it yourself. You’ll see that we can come up with a number of stories, which is good if you need a headline or two. I’ll take some ideas if you got ’em!