The folks at Breeze, an insurance provider, asked Americans a series of questions about if they had enough money in their bank accounts to cover unexpected emergencies without taking on debt, such as using a credit card or taking out a personal loan.
Unfortunately, the answers are not reassuring.
- 24% of those surveyed didn’t have enough personal savings to cover a $250 emergency expense
- 35% couldn’t cover a $500 expense
- 47% couldn’t cover a $1,000 expense
- 54% couldn’t cover a $1,500 expense
- 58% couldn’t cover a $2,000 expense
- 62% couldn’t cover a $3,000 expense
- 67% couldn’t cover a $5,000 expense
- 70% couldn’t cover a $7,500 expense
- 73% couldn’t cover a $10,000 expense
- 75% couldn’t cover an expense over $10,000
If their income suddenly vanished, 29% couldn’t cover more than four weeks of expenses—and that’s with using both personal savings and incurring new debt.
Living paycheck-to-paycheck has a far-reaching impact on their lives, too.
- 61% spent less on the holidays this year
- 53% want to quit their current jobs to explore other career opportunities but couldn’t because they didn’t have enough money saved to leave a job without having another one already lined up
The one bright spot: 44% have more savings than before the pandemic, while 25% have less.
Breeze calls this the “American Savings Staircase.” You can read more information here.
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