Sixty-five percent of Americans do not have sufficient emergency savings, and more than one in four have no emergency savings whatsoever, according to a new report by Bankrate.com.
The latest survey — which polled 1,000 adults in the U.S. via telephone — echoes findings in previous reports, which indicate that 26% of 50- to 64-year-olds have not saved any money for retirement.
However, among all age groups, just 22% of Americans have an adequate emergency savings cushion, defined as having enough to cover at least six months of expenses. Another 21% have less than three months’ expenses saved up, and only 15% have enough to cover between three months and five months worth of expenses, the recent survey shows.
The number of Americans with no emergency savings whatsoever has climbed to a five-year high of 29%, up from 26% last year.
“These results are further evidence that Americans remain woefully under-saved for unplanned expenses and rather than progressing, are moving in the wrong direction,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com.
Not surprisingly, comfort level with savings remains the laggard, with more Americans noting deterioration in savings (24%) rather than improvement (21%) from one year ago.
To read the full survey, click here.
Written by Emily Study
