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Today, 29% of Americans—about 70 million citizens—have no emergency savings at all.
That’s according to a new Bankrate survey. It’s the highest percentage seen since the survey began five years ago.
Only about one in five Americans has enough funds to cover six months’ living expenses.
Living paycheck to paycheck leaves zero breathing room for unforeseen—and inevitable—expenses. A 2014 American Express survey showed half of Americans had unexpected bills pop up. Forty-four percent of these participants had unplanned medical expenses; 46% had emergency car-related costs.
The urgency of medical and transportation-related expenses means they’re almost impossible to work around. With no savings, many Americans turn to credit cards and personal loans to pay the bills.
Often, this just prolongs the inevitable—declaring bankruptcy. And that means months of legal proceedings, counseling sessions, liquidation of most assets, and credit problems for the next seven years.
Regular Daily readers know if you don’t have at least six months of savings, investing should be the last thought in your mind.
Do NOT buy one of our advanced trading services. Do not hope you can harness their oversized returns to “grow” your way out of a fiscal black hole.
Focus on saving, not investing.
Mark wrote what some have called the greatest “how-to guide” on saving, ever. It’s called “The Secret of the Golden Buckets.” It’s so fundamental to financial well-being, we’ve made it available to everyone, for free, right here.
Please forward, share, tweet, like, and spread this essay to whomever you think may benefit from it. Poverty and financial misery—even for 70 million people—do not have to be inescapable.