The ability to systematically save money has always been adefining characteristic of people who achieve financialsuccess.

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With college costs soaring, defined benefit pensionsdisappearing, and Social Security wobbling, saving money is even more importantnow than in the past. The good news is that millions of Americansare putting their savers’ hats on.

After steadily declining from double-digit rates in mid-1970s toa record low 2.0% in 2005, the U.S. Personal Savings Rate hasstaged a modest recovery. Recently, it stood at 4.5% at the end ofMarch, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The Personal Savings Rate is published monthly to reflect thepercentage of disposable personal income remaining after allspending, including taxes. Since it includes amounts set aside intax-advantaged accounts such as 401(k)s, IRAs and 529 plans, itreflects real progress your clients are making toward financialgoals.

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The more money your clients save, the more assets you can helpthem manage, and your income also should grow.

Unfortunately, powerful influences are working to undermineAmericans' savings discipline. Here are some examples:

• To defend its negative interest rate policy (NIRP), The EuropeanCentral Bank (ECB) has on several occasions implied that savers aredriving the Eurozone’s economic malaise, and if NIRP encouragesthem to spend and consume more, growth will return. On May 1, 2016,ECB Executive Board member Benoit Coeure wrote an op-ed piece in a Germannewspaper, in which he claimed that the euro area is generatingexcess savings of over 3% of its GDP, which has put downwardpressure on interest rates. 3% is not a huge savings rate, and tomany thrifty Germans, it sounded like a battle cry for centralbankers’ war on their savings:

• About a year ago, The Wall Street Journal published atongue-in-cheek letter to American Consumers, in which it bemoaneda strong U.S. Personal Savings Rate and encouraged consumers tospend more: “Do you know the American economy is counting on you?We can’t count on the rest of the world to spend money on ourstuff…You should feel lucky you’re not a Greek consumer.” The piecewas widely considered to represent sentiment inside the FederalReserve, mainly because it was written by the Journal’s Fedmouthpiece, Jon Hilsenrath, and signed “The Wall Street Journal’sCentral Bank Team.”

• More recently, in May, The Washington Post published a feature article"Unemployment is down. Gas prices are low. Why isn’t Americashopping?" The Post said that because of sales declines, the U.S.retailing industry is "increasing efforts to find new tactics toget shoppers to open their wallets more.”

It’s a good time to help your clients double-check their savingsdisciplines, while reminding them that there are many stronginfluences at work– conscious and subliminal – to undermine them.Part of the reason central banks around the world have implementedultra-low interest rates is to discourage saving and encourageconsumption. It reflects an unusual environment in whichpolicymakers may be starting to lose control of monetary policy –all the more reason for clients to save more!