The new poor are people who look fine on the surface but live anxious about money because of high rent, thin savings, debt, no investable assets and habits that cost them more than they realize. Some by circumstance and some by choice, the new poor are people who do not look poor on the surface but spend their lives anxious about money. Its tone is blunt and aimed at a younger audience, and it frames each sign as something you can change.
Here are the fifteen signs, followed by a bonus that turns the list around. The figures are as the video states them.
Watch the full video here, or skip to the breakdown below.
The 15 signs at a glance
- Your rent consumes half your income, or you still live with your parents (0:26)
- Your emergency fund is under $1,000 (1:33)
- You have a job, not a career, and AI may take even that (2:37)
- You have student debt (3:45)
- You have no investable assets (4:36)
- Inflation is outpacing your earning power (5:44)
- You use payment plans although you end up paying more (6:35)
- You transact with digital money, not cash (7:41)
- You are your parents’ retirement plan (9:22)
- Everyone around you lives the same way (10:06)
- You pay for services and one-off experiences, not goods (11:50)
- You overpay for little things, consistently (13:10)
- You prioritize the present over the future (14:07)
- You lack any high-demand hard skills (14:48)
- Talking about money gives you the “ick”, but you love following rich celebrities (15:37)
1. Your rent consumes half your income, or you still live with your parents
You own little, and what you own would fit in a suitcase. You were told location, location, location, and now you pay a premium for a tiny space. One twist is multi-generational mortgages, where parents who cannot pay theirs off in a lifetime hand it to their children in the hope that they will become owners.
Owning a home is a goal for many people who do not realize the house you live in is a liability, not an asset, the script argues. It also tells viewers to take some personal responsibility instead of blaming only the generation before them, and not to avoid the math because it is uncomfortable.
2. Your emergency fund is under $1,000
If you had no way to generate money starting today, could you cover rent, bills, food and health for three months? If not, the video says you are one small emergency away from personal bankruptcy. The on-screen guideline is that an emergency fund should cover three months or more.
The last time something like this happened, you probably borrowed or sold some belongings. Calling yourself a free spirit can cover for feeling lost and anxious, and avoiding the numbers resembles avoiding the doctor in case something turns up. Not facing the truth does more damage later.
3. You have a job, not a career, and AI may take even that
You dislike the job and earn just enough to cover living costs and a few nights out. Since you do not want this career, there is no reason to chase a promotion that would add responsibility to work you dislike. You do it poorly, though not poorly enough to be fired, and your boss pays just enough to keep you from quitting.
You may dream of land outside the city, growing your own food or a creative life, but have had the same dream for over a decade. Many people brush off technology as a threat, assuming they can reinvent themselves, while the avenues for that are shrinking and deep down they know it.
4. You have student debt
The degree did less than expected in the current economy, and you stay in your field so the money does not feel wasted, even though plumbers and electricians out-earn you by a landslide. Debt, bluntly put: you are not merely broke, you are below zero. A person with nothing is still above $0, while you must work for years to catch up.
When you do earn, the bank gets paid first and you live on what is left. Unpaid student debt, it also claims, is passed to your children.
5. You have no investable assets
To grow wealth you need to own something that generates income or rises in value. A car is a liability, since it needs fuel, oil changes and repairs. Ask what you own, outside yourself, that makes money or increases in value consistently. This is why 90 percent of the population struggles financially.
Its example: you love overpriced coffee but own no shares of the company. It says one share of Starbucks costs about $100, many platforms let you buy less, and the stock pays a 2 percent dividend, meaning $2 a year for every $100 invested. You can buy as much or as little as you like.
6. Inflation is outpacing your earning power
You are in the new poor when prices rise faster than your income. Prices of goods and services in the US are about 20 percent higher than five years ago, houses about 23 percent more expensive and medical services 47 percent more. If your income has not risen by 50 percent in five years, you are 50 percent poorer.
It calls this the highest inflation in the last 40 years, and adds that this may be the worst you will have to experience so far. A safe and stable job will not cut it for long.
7. You use payment plans although you end up paying more
Buy now, pay later is everywhere, and the pitch of paying a little now and the rest in installments is easy to accept. There is interest attached that can be up to 30 percent more than paying in full.
Take a $1,000 phone. Many assume four installments of $250, but the average retailer charges a flat interest rate between 11 and 27 percent. So you pay four installments of $300 and the retailer pockets $1,200, $200 more. Having enough money in your pocket to take something home today does not mean you can afford it.
8. You transact with digital money, not cash
Cash is a superior form of payment in value terms, the script claims, because it takes 32 digital transactions for the value to move from the individual to the credit card companies. Each time you pay online, by phone or by card, processors charge a fee of 2.87 to 4.35 percent, usually a small fixed amount plus a percentage.
Take $50. With a 3 percent processing fee, the retailer receives $48.50. When the retailer spends it, processors take their cut again, and of the original $50 only $47.30 remains. Repeat that 32 times and almost all the value has moved from society to the businesses in the middle. A $50 bill, by contrast, passes whole to the next person. Banks also charge a maintenance fee for keeping your own money.
9. You are your parents’ retirement plan
Costs that are not directly theirs weigh on the new poor. If your parents had no savings, no investments and little pension, you step up when they age and need support or treatment, even though you can barely take care of yourself. Your already tight finances take a bigger hit and the hole gets deeper.
You tell yourself you will figure it out, but your confidence is low.
10. Everyone around you lives the same way
If everyone around you is struggling and no one is thriving, there is no path out and no guidance. You accept it and blame the system, whatever that is. You can learn a lot about someone by looking at their friends. If everyone is dealing with the same struggles, you need other sources of input. You can stay friendly, but the answers will not come from them.
It asks how valuable a mentor would be, someone who points you in the right direction and shows you how to build your life brick by brick.
11. You pay for services and one-off experiences, not goods
The market keeps people poor by limiting how much value they acquire. It sells a service-focused lifestyle where you own nothing and pay to use what others own. You do not own a car, so you take ride shares. You do not own a bike, so you rent an electric scooter to save seven minutes of walking.
If you owned the scooter, you could sell it after a few years and recover some of the cost. Convenience at $15 a time sounds small, but the video claims the average millennial will spend over $300,000 in the next 25 years this way, against roughly $75,000 using public transport efficiently. Digital games and goods have zero resale value, and people replace things instead of repairing them.
12. You overpay for little things, consistently
Treats and rides feel small, but the script says you overpay by 300 to 500 percent for the illusion of convenience. A coffee at a chain costs $2.50, while making it yourself costs about $0.36, so you pay seven times as much.
Brand-name medication costs five times as much as generic versions with the same chemical makeup, and marketing gets people to pay $400 for a designer t-shirt that costs $6 to make because of the status. None of it brings extra quality, and the habit continues even when you cannot afford it.
13. You prioritize the present over the future
Call it the YOLO generation, following trends that urge you to give everything to the present. It quotes a trending sound saying you will make the money back but will never be a certain age again, so spend it.
The counterpoint is that you are borrowing from the future, and the bill is due soon. Its example: with $200 in your account and $35,000 in debt, why spend $75 going out on a Friday?
14. You lack any high-demand hard skills
Alive but not knowing how to do much is how the video sums up the new poor. Skills like spending time online and vague interests in niche things do not count as skills the market pays for.
It argues that participation trophies bred entitlement and that many have never learned to bring something to the table. The fix is implied: build a skill people will pay for.
15. Talking about money gives you the “ick”, but you love following rich celebrities
Sitting down to talk about money creates anxiety. It can seem lame to focus on it because there is more to life than financial success, which the script grants is true, but it is hard to feel zen when your newborn needs diapers. Meanwhile you admire displays of wealth and imagine being on the other side of the screen.
That mentality is a virus of the mind, and if you are infected, education can cure it. Staying the same because change takes effort is the choice the new poor make.
Bonus: you have an advantage your parents did not
The bonus flips the list. The script says that at your age your parents had more work experience and accumulated wealth, adjusted for their time, and that you entered the workforce later. But you also have a competitive advantage: technology lets you do in five years what took them thirty, because you can scale exponentially.
It adds that businesses today try to double every quarter instead of growing 10 percent a year, and that older generations are outdated while younger people are in tune with the culture. If you act on that, the script says, you are not poor, you are pre-rich.
FAQ
What does the new poor mean?
In the video, the new poor are people who do not look poor on the surface but live anxious about money, with high rent, thin savings, debt, no investable assets and spending habits that cost more than they realize.
How big should an emergency fund be?
The video says it should cover three months or more of rent, bills, food and health costs. A fund under $1,000, it says, leaves you one small emergency from bankruptcy.
Why are payment plans costly?
The script says retailers typically charge flat interest of 11 to 27 percent. On a $1,000 phone, four installments of $300 add up to $1,200 instead of $1,000.
Why does the video say cash beats digital payments?
Each digital payment carries a processing fee of 2.87 to 4.35 percent. The video claims that after 32 transactions almost all the value has moved to payment businesses, while cash passes whole to the next person.
How can someone stop being the new poor?
The video points to education, building a high-demand skill, owning assets that grow, finding a mentor and surrounding yourself with people who are moving forward.
Keep reading
- 10 Ways To Fix Your Poor Mindset
- 15 SIGNS OF A POOR LEADER
- Couple Who Quit Their Jobs to Travel the World is Now Poor and Scrubbing Toilets
