Teetering Book Explains Who Needs the $1.9 Trillion Dollar Stimulus Money

On March 12, 2021, President Biden signed a $1.9 Trillion Dollar Stimulus bill aimed in part at providing financial assistance to countless Americans in need. “Tightropers” are the ones who need financial help the most. Financial guru Ken Rees defines Tightropers as people teetering on the edge of financial catastrophe, living paycheck to paycheck, worrying about losing their job or being hit with unexpected expenses. Or they lost their job and tried to survive on unemployment checks and dwindling savings. In his book, Teetering: Why So Many Live On A Financial Tightrope and What To Do About It, Rees describes the peril that half of all U.S. adults faced before the Covid-19 pandemic—and since early 2020 that number has skyrocketed—how Americans can dig themselves out of this crisis, and how we can make better policies to assist Tightropers.

Worrying about finances, like chronic hunger, gnaws at the very fabric of our being. Rees has seen the toll teetering exacts to all kinds. In Teetering, he lets them tell their own stories of setbacks, sacrifice, and perseverance, and provides original research into the unique pressures and needs of those in financial stress.  He advises us that we shouldn’t treat Tightropers as victims or blame them for their financial decisions. Tightropers deserve support at all stages of their lives to build savings for both daily emergencies and long-term retirement.

Rees shows how legislators and regulators can make a difference without unintended consequences and how financial technology innovation can help Tightropers manage their money in uncertain times. He makes the case for urgent action by financial institutions, investors, regulators, policymakers, employers, and influencers to recognize and address the financial forces that have pushed the American dream out of reach for so many. It proposes common ground solutions that work regardless of political leaning and provides a roadmap for how innovators can serve this growing need and how banks and others can start saying “yes” to their customers again.

Teetering: Why So Many Live On A Financial Tightrope and What To Do About It is on sale now wherever books are sold. It’s as relevant a book as you’ll find about underlying issues related to the economic crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.