CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Ronald T. Wilcox, a business administration professor at the University of Virginia, has written a book about America's spendthrift ways.

The current rate of savings for Americans hovers around zero, he says. His first book, "Whatever Happened to Thrift? Why Americans Don't Save and What to Do About It," was published this month.

What is the book about?

It's an unapologetic attempt to reinvent thrift in the United States. It looks at practical steps that public policymakers, business executives and individuals can take to increase personal savings rates, which I view as a serious social problem in the U.S.

Why is lack of thrift a serious social problem?

Lots of households in the U.S., when they get ready to retire, will be well short of what they need in terms of savings to finance retirement. The risks have shifted from companies to individuals, so by and large we have to save for our own retirement. We're not doing that. Social Security for most won't come close to what they need. Many individuals are going to be short money on retirement.

Why don't Americans save?

The U.S. has very well-developed capital markets, which is great for businesses, but it means we as individuals can borrow for just about any type of consumption. What happens is when you ask people if they can afford something -- what they think about is if they can afford the payments.

Americans are also very optimistic, relative to people in other countries. That's a wonderful thing for our country, but one of the downsides is if you think tomorrow's going to be better than today -- then why save? A lot of people fall into that trap.

What are the best ways to save?

If you're going to save regularly, you want that money taken out before you get that paycheck. If your employer does any kind of matching 401(k) plan, you want to get involved in that. And even if the employer doesn't do matching, you want to do it anyway because it's tax-deferred.

Should you spend those tax rebate checks?

It is good for the economy in the short term to spend that money. It's not necessarily good for the long run. Politicians advocate things that stimulate the economy in the short term. But for families already in debt, it's far better longer term for the nation for those families to pay down their debt or save the money.

How can federal policy increase savings?

It can shift taxes away from income toward consumption. Now, the people who have access to tax-deferred savings and benefit the most are really wealthy Americans and the upper middle class. People without jobs or who have jobs in small companies don't always have that benefit.

The government can also help small companies develop IRA plans for their employees. That's a big gap in the system: small-business retirement plans.

Most people also hold money in mutual funds as retirement plans. Very few have any idea what these funds are charging us. Mutual funds should be required to tell us in dollars each quarter what they are charging us. Now they give you a prospectus that no one reads, and somewhere they say we charge you 0.73 percent of your assets. You could calculate what it is, but most people don't. If on a quarterly report they said we're charging you $712 -- guess what -- people would start paying attention.

How do Americans rank as savers compared to other countries?

Dead last in the developed world.

Contact Carlos Santos at csantos@timesdispatch.com.