Many of us would be in trouble if we had to foot the bill for an unplanned expense.
Bankrate’s January Financial Security Index survey reveals that just four in 10 U.S. adults (41 percent) would cover the cost of a $1,000 car repair or emergency room visit using savings. The findings echo what previous Bankrate studies and others — including the Federal Reserve and the Pew Charitable Trusts — have found about Americans’ lack of rainy-day savings.
The higher your household income, the more likely you would be to use savings to pay for unanticipated costs. That’s true for nearly six in 10 (59 percent) households earning $75,000 or more annually.
Men (45 percent) were more likely than women (38 percent) to say they would draw from savings when faced with the unexpected. And when their backs are against the wall, just 36 percent of younger millennials would turn to emergency funds to pay $1,000 (compared with 41 to 44 percent of older folks who would say the same).
Key findings:
- Bankrate reports indicate that the percentage of U.S. adults who would […]
This is a sad fact, but honestly, I don’t think this is something new? Been there many times in my 60 years. Murphy‘s Law validated over and over. Most people I know live paycheck to paycheck – no matter how large it is! With the help of friends, family and (sometimes) compassionate creditors you get through it. And when you can you return the favor. The old fashioned “golden rule”.
Significant to note that to pay a$ 1000 expense40% will borrow, 40% will use savings….and 205 will not be able to do either.
Other studies from Federal Reserve reflect this dynamic happening at the $400 unplanned expense level
Even one in four families in the $100,000 yearly income bracket can’t pay a $400 unplanned expense from savings….
How many Billions could Bezos spend before he even noticed it?
When my wife had a heart attack back about ten years ago, we were told by our cardiologist to just pay anything we could, so we paid $10 per month and the hospital was required to accept it under law as long as we paid something they could do nothing about it. We finally completed our payments and since we did not borrow, we had no added expense of interest rates. I also repair our cars myself since I am an intelligent person who can figure our how to do just about anything. I installed a new water heater when we first into our home. I also installed a new electrical breaker panel when the old fuse system caught on fire when the fuse blew up instead of just breaking the circuit ( I just had to rewire some of the circuits because the idiots who installed them originally put too much amperage on one side of the 220 volt system). There is nothing you cannot repair if you read a lot. Of course human ailments are another matter and sometimes require an expert to help with medical problems. Last April my wife had a stroke and I gave her an aspirin to break up the clot, and another soon thereafter to help keep the blood moving as well as keep breaking up the clot. I also told our doctor about this incident and he said that was the perfect way to handle the situation. Only because I read a lot do I have the ability to perform many of these and other tasks and promote reading to everyone I meet.