28% of Americans have no emergency savings

By Blake Ellis @CNNMoney June 25, 2012: 6:15 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Most Americans don't have nearly enough money stashed away for emergencies and more than one-in-four don't even have a single penny saved.

While the general rule of thumb is to have an emergency fund that will cover at least six months of expenses, only 25% of Americans have that amount saved, research released Monday by Bankrate.com finds.

About 49% of Americans don't even have enough money saved to cover three months of expenses -- slightly worse than the 46% of Americans who reported having less than three months worth of savings last year.

And 28% don't have any cushion whatsoever -- up from 24% last year, according to the report, which was based on a survey of 1,000 adults.
Just married and digging out of debt

"Incomes are largely stagnant, so it's difficult for people to make significant headway on savings when household expenses are creeping higher but incomes are not," said Greg McBride, senior financial analyst for Bankrate.com. "Prolonged unemployment has also depleted the savings of many people who at one time had a more appropriate cushion."

While the overall saving situation has gotten slightly worse in the past year, Americans are saving more this year than they were six years ago. In 2006, Bankrate found that 61% of Americans didn't have enough emergency savings to last three months.

"Relative to a year like 2006, the needle has moved a little bit, but this is more of an indication of how woefully undersaved Americans were during the 'go-go days' of the housing boom," said McBride.

While some may argue that they don't have enough money to contribute to an emergency savings account, McBride said it's just a matter of getting into the habit.
Related: 43% of Americans go cashless for a week

"The biggest barrier to saving is not being in the habit of saving," he said. "By establishing that habit, even if an unplanned expense comes up and wipes out what you've accumulated, you're only one paycheck away from restarting the saving process."

To start saving, he recommends setting up a direct deposit from your paycheck or checking account into a dedicated savings account and to keep track of your spending so that you funnel as much extra income as possible into your savings account each month.

money.cnn.com . . .

I'm surprised even 25% have 6 months wages saved in cash. We certainly don't unless you count our 401k.

Johnny_Ola wrote:

I'm surprised even 25% have 6 months wages saved in cash. We certainly don't unless you count our 401k.

?

Johnny_Ola wrote:

I'm surprised even 25% have 6 months wages saved in cash. We certainly don't unless you count our 401k.

After 5 years of this shit I'm surprised anyone with the exception of government worker filth has anything left.

Hell, half the country is on the dole. There are no financial emergencies when you are a baby cared for by the state. Just ask Jizlah. His family has been on food stamps for 45 years (that's more than 3 generations).

PopsFrost wrote:

Hell, half the country is on the dole. There are no financial emergencies when you are a baby cared for by the state. Just ask Jizlah. His family has been on food stamps for 45 years (that's more than 3 generations).

I just saw on the news how Generation X is the most Le Fucked by the recession. We lost a decade of retirement portfolio growth at the crucial stage in life to really start socking it away. It will have a ripple effect on Gen Y because we will be slower to upgrade our homes, if at all, which means we will not be selling our mid-stage homes to Gen Y when they have a demand.

Personally, I think we are all equally fucked. Boomers can't retire on schedule, and the Gen Y can't find a job that pays shit, if they can even get a real job. Teenagers can pretty much forget about finding a summer job.

We can't get rid of this retard in the White House soon enough for me!

this is dingbats 4th or 5th thread on the subject

i guess ill just repeat the same stupid shit over and over since

people with no money or no savings? sounds like a personal fuckin problem to me.
americans are almost bigger idiots then ignorant moronic europeans
the average schmuck and schmuckette should take 20% of his/her income(s) and make believe it doesnt exist.

BTW you should always try to have more then one income

theyre still up to thier eyeballs in debt even though many have been reducing thier loads after the 2007/08 kick in the ass

repeat repeat repeat

i keep 6 months aside to run my warehouse alone

if we didnt take another order again i can keep running for 6 months
payroll to the electric bill to the phone

after that i roll down the door and fire everyone..... to bad
if business was ever that bad id roll em down sooner anyway but the money is there ..and i have the ability to tap loans to lines of credit in a snap .

they cant stamp approved fast enough



personally

i dont have to work again ....ever

is that enough money ? snicker



as for credit cards if ya dont have it dont spend it

me and the mrs blow out our amex's all the time but we pay it off when 30 days are up

as for mr and mrs cul de sac in thier mouths, want that 60 inch samsung? save for it first then buy it

whats the hard part ?

death to the poor !
fuck the fat mall rat bourgeoisie !

go china!

i have half of a 5 gallon bucket full of pennies i'm gonna cash in at the coinstar when the shit hits the fan. i bet i got a c-note worth...maybe

Not counting equity in my house or my RRSPs (like your 401k),or weapons,jewelry,art or silver, I have about 2 years salary in the bank. That is based on my current burn rate, the belt would get seriously tightened if the worst was to happen. Could probably stretch it to 3 if I had to.

Minimum 5 years of salary in savings,.. and one year salary in the checking account.

Haven't bought a car on credit in 20 years,.. cash only.

ya gotta eat....


I can run the boat for 21 days offshore 3 trips a month..

The best advice I ever got was when I was 10. A friend of my mother told me to always put away 10% of what you earn. I still have all of that unlike the 12.6% that the feds stole from me for 40+ years that I will never see.

Always live under your means. Save %30.

Always live under your means. Save %30.

Fancy food is the biggest drain. No asset there unless you consider your health, literally money flushed down the toilet.

Eat less (diet). Save thousands per year.

Minimum 5 years of salary in savings,.. and one year salary in the checking account.

You're one believer BP, it would be safer at home in a safe than in a bank these days... Euro banks have started restricting the amount of money (700$) you can withdraw each week at the atm since they just don't have that cash anyway! Seriously, can't wait for the euro to collapse and stop the banking cartel slavery.