When I speak to non-economists about economics, I often tell them that norms are often more powerful than incentives.  David Brooks has a must-read column in The New York Times today that strikes this note very well with regard to saving:

Over the past 30 years, much of that has been shredded. The social norms and institutions that encouraged frugality and spending what you earn have been undermined. The institutions that encourage debt and living for the moment have been strengthened. The country’s moral guardians are forever looking for decadence out of Hollywood and reality TV. But the most rampant decadence today is financial decadence, the trampling of decent norms about how to use and harness money.

Do the data back him up? Let's look at the data on the personal saving rate out of disposable income: