What does dissaving mean?
Dissaving is an economic term describing the practice of spending more than one's income over a given period, with the shortfall covered by drawing down accumulated savings, selling assets, or borrowing. It is effectively the opposite of saving: while savers add to their wealth, dissavers reduce it. The word carries no inherent moral judgment in economic writing — dissaving may be a deliberate life strategy, as when retirees live off their pensions and nest eggs, or a forced response to hardship such as job loss or emergency expenses. At the national level, economists track aggregate dissaving through negative saving rates, which can signal either healthy consumption smoothing or underlying financial stress. The term appears most often in technical discussions of household finances, retirement planning, and macroeconomic analysis, making it useful vocabulary for anyone following debates about consumer debt, aging populations, and fiscal policy.
nounThe expenditure of money at a rate exceeding one's income, typically by drawing down savings or borrowing. In economics, it describes a situation in which an individual, household, or government spends more than it earns over a given period.
- The act or practice of spending in excess of one's income, funded from accumulated savings or borrowed money (economics).
"After losing his job, he resorted to dissaving to cover his monthly expenses."
"Many retirees engage in planned dissaving, gradually drawing on their pension funds and nest eggs."
"The national accounts showed negative household saving, indicating widespread dissaving across the economy."
Economists treat dissaving as the mirror image of saving — retirees do it deliberately, and Keynes built it into his theory of how nations spend.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of dissaving
Dissaving is formed within English from the prefix 'dis-' (indicating reversal or negation) combined with 'saving', itself derived from the verb 'save', which entered English from Old French 'sauver'. The French verb traces back to Latin 'salvare', meaning to make safe or rescue, from 'salvus' (safe, whole). English cognates sharing this Latin root include 'safe', 'salvation', and 'salvage'. The compound emerged in the language of economics, where the 'dis-' prefix neatly signals the undoing of saving.
Related word forms
How dissaving is actually used
A technical term used primarily in economics and personal finance. It is neutral rather than judgmental in academic contexts — dissaving can be rational and planned (as in retirement) or distress-driven (as during unemployment). It is usually uncountable.
Easily confused with dissaving
'Dissecting' means cutting something apart for examination, while 'dissaving' refers to spending more than one's income; they differ entirely in meaning despite a superficial visual similarity.