Sure, the data is a couple of years old, but I don’t doubt it a bit:
WSJ: Nearly Half of Americans ‘Financially Fragile’
According to the study, roughly half of Americans reported that they “probably” or “definitely” could not come up with $2,000 if needed within 30 days.
From the WSJ:
The survey asked a simple question, “If you were to face a $2,000 unexpected expense in the next month, how would you get the funds you need?” In the U.S., 24.9% of respondents reported being certainly able, 25.1% probably able, 22.2% probably unable and 27.9% certainly unable.
Other recent, similar surveys have told us that more than 3/4 of us live paycheck-to-paycheck, and 27 percent of us have no personal savings. So it’s not as if this WSJ article’s story is a surprise.
Lulu wrote:
Thankfully yes I can right now. About one year ago I could not…but I was trying to save $5k in an account for emergencies and just left it untouched when I finally got it. I have separate money for day to day living and savings and just hope to keep adding to it.
Michael wrote:
Yeah. Looks like there’s a good reason Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps start off with “Step 1: Save $1,000 fast,” doesn’t it?
‘Cause a great many of us simply don’t have any savings at all.
Personal Finance for Teachers wrote:
It is sad that so many people are in that boat now days. I am trying to teach my 20 year daughter to save for emergencies. It is kind of hard for her to grasp since she is in college and we are paying the majority of her expenses.
She has a part-time job and we have tried to get her to follow the 80%/10%/10% rule no matter how small her paycheck was. Save 10%, Give 10% and have the remaining 80% for expenses. She is having a hard time doing it because her checks from the part-time job are so small. I keep trying to tell her that it does not matter about the amount as long as you get in the habit of doing it.
Jack Foley wrote:
Yea,
its frightening to see what will happen these peolpe when the inevitable happens, interest rates go up..