WASHINGTON — After nearly an entire article quoting him earlier this month in USA Today, CUNA Chief Economist Bill Hampel was quoted in an Oct. 11 Dow Jones' MarketWatch story as an expert on the nation's lagging personal savings. The article quoted Hampel as stating: "The real reason people save is to build their net worth…It's understandable that there has been dissaving in the last couple of years: Their net worth has been going up because of home-price appreciation." According to the article, Americans' median net worth in 2004 was $93,100, up from $70,800 in 1995. He added, "Our houses have been doing our saving for us. People feel a little bit more able and capable of spending because their nest egg has gotten bigger." However, with the leveling off of the housing market, Hampel said, "Many of us think starting fairly soon now, in the next quarter or two, we'll start to see further improvement in saving and probably by next year it'll turn positive again." Hampel also offered up suggestions for consumers to boost savings, like setting up an automatic deposit from your paycheck to a savings account or contribute to your 401(k) or other retirement plan, at least contributing enough to maximize any employer match. "If you say, 'O.K., next month I'm going to try to cut back spending. I'm going to save whatever I have left over at the end of the month,' it's very unlikely to work," Hampel told MarketWatch.

"But if instead you take $300 off the top before you even see it, you're much more likely to be able to live with the remaining budget."