We just keep coming back to the same dismal stats on savings, over and over again. This time, the 2014 Scorecard from the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) informs us that, among other tidbits, 44 percent of us have less than three months’ worth of savings tucked away.
CFED: 2014 Assets and Opportunity Scorecard
The figures aren’t far off from those released in June of 2013 in a similar report from U.S. News. We hit the same savings ballpark in an Allstate survey, too.
From a summary article:
I’m not sure what world these folks live in, but $5,887 doesn’t seem to be anywhere close to a reasonable measurement for a three-month cushion for a family of four. Which suggests to me that the figures are, in fact, really worse than what’s reported here.
CFED also says that one quarter (25%) of middle class households (those earning $56,113 to $91,356 annually) have less than three months of savings. In a related note, they divulge, about 56 percent of us have subprime credit scores. Also, in 2012, the average college debt level for graduates was $29,400.
You can grab a PDF copy of the 2014 report — chock full of fancy graphs, graphics, and (of course) admonitions for government-policy intervention — right here.
