The problem with this country is that we are taught to consume and not save for when times get tough, especially the younger generation, they have no clue what the value of a dollar is anymore. I see kids today with $700 phones, Im sure their parents bought them but in reality kids today get almost anything they want, $150 sneakers, $500 tablets, $50 sushi dinners.... maybe a class in money 101 would be better for this country,...no one teaches you the basics of money, no one tells you how to balance a check book or what a 15% interest rate on a credit card is all about, nope just pass those SATs and go take out a $50,000 college loan at 7%..Schools don't teach kids the basics of what a dollar is or what it is to save, and if the parents have spending habits, the kids will usually follow in their footsteps.....now imagine when the next collapse in the economy comes, what happens to all these 70,000,000+ people who have zero savings, this is very serious, a problem that can put the US into a depression, but then again who cares, its a subject that no one talks about...there are many articles written on it but its a discussion that gets ignored and will continue to get ignored....can it be fixed, not really... maybe patched but never fixed, its just the way consumers are taught, we are taught to spend and since 70% of the GDP is made up of the consumer, well why would they want us to put those dollars away especially now with 0% on your money, whats the point in putting anything away. I mean BUBBLE ben bernanke did a great job of propping up the market for all of the 1% and most of the rich and wealthy but it did nothing for the little guy who puts away $100 a week into his savings. So now that millions of americans have little to no money saved the next collapse in the economy will make the last one look like it never even took place...
Millions of Americans have little to no money saved
Charisse Jones
1 Hour AgoUSA TodayHalf of American households can barely save a nickel
Millions of Americans have no savings set aside for a rainy day, leaving them in serious jeopardy if financial calamity strikes, according to two new studies released this week.
Roughly a third of American adults don't have any emergency savings, meaning that over 72 million people have no cushion to fall back on if they lose a job or have to deal with another crisis, according to a survey released today by NeighborWorks America, a national non-profit that supports communities.
Among the 1,035 adults who took part in the poll, 34% had no money set aside for an emergency, while 47% said their savings would cover their living expenses for 90 days or less.
Mactrunk | iStock / 360 | Getty Images
"This is troubling,'' Paul Weech, president and CEO of NeighborWorks America, said in an e-mail. "We're concerned because our survey shows that many people are still digging themselves out of the hole that they found themselves in during the Great Recession.''
With the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting in February that the average length of unemployment was 31.7 weeks, savings could be a lifeline to surviving day to day. "It takes the average unemployed person a long time to find new employment, often longer than their emergency savings would last," Weech says.
Read MoreRetirement: Minimize taxes to maximize savings
Ideally, Americans should be setting aside 15% of their gross income to prepare for emergencies, as well as for retirement and other goals, according to financial experts.
When it came to financial priorities, only 1% of adults said shoring up an emergency fund was a critical financial goal vs. 5% who agreed a year ago. Putting away money for retirement was No. 1, but the number of respondents who felt that way dropped from 28% a year ago to 24% now.
The NeighborWorks findings mirror another survey, released Monday, that also found Americans are doing a poor of job of saving.
The report, from personal finance website Bankrate.com, found that 18% of those surveyed are saving nothing from each paycheck, while another 28% are saving 5% or less of their income.
While not unexpected, those figures are of concern says Greg McBride, Bankrate.com's chief financial analyst. "The burden of retirement savings is increasingly upon us as individuals, and the need for emergency savings is ever present,'' he says. "The meager savings rate isn't going to cut it.''
There are various reasons so many are saving so little, including a cultural fixation on spending rather than saving, and wages that are virtually frozen in place.
"People have recognized the importance of savings and given it a higher priority since the recession,'' McBride says. "But with stagnant incomes they haven't been able to move the needle on how much they've put away.''
Still, the Bankrate.com survey found that 35% of households earning between $50,000 and $74,999 a year were putting away over 10% of their incomes. One in five households earning between $30,000 and $50,000 annually were saving a similar amount. That thrift among the middle class is cause for some optimism, McBride says.
"I think it's very encouraging because it shows that savings is not a function of income, it's a function of discipline and living within your means,'' he says.
"Specific to the middle class, they know they don't have a six-figure income to fall back on, that they're going to have to do the saving themselves. And I think it's also a great testament to the fact that for all the doom and gloom about people not saving or saving enough, there are consumers from all walks of life that have figured out how to do it.''
Millions of Americans have little to no money saved
Charisse Jones
1 Hour AgoUSA TodayHalf of American households can barely save a nickel
Millions of Americans have no savings set aside for a rainy day, leaving them in serious jeopardy if financial calamity strikes, according to two new studies released this week.
Roughly a third of American adults don't have any emergency savings, meaning that over 72 million people have no cushion to fall back on if they lose a job or have to deal with another crisis, according to a survey released today by NeighborWorks America, a national non-profit that supports communities.
Among the 1,035 adults who took part in the poll, 34% had no money set aside for an emergency, while 47% said their savings would cover their living expenses for 90 days or less.
Mactrunk | iStock / 360 | Getty Images
"This is troubling,'' Paul Weech, president and CEO of NeighborWorks America, said in an e-mail. "We're concerned because our survey shows that many people are still digging themselves out of the hole that they found themselves in during the Great Recession.''
With the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting in February that the average length of unemployment was 31.7 weeks, savings could be a lifeline to surviving day to day. "It takes the average unemployed person a long time to find new employment, often longer than their emergency savings would last," Weech says.
Read MoreRetirement: Minimize taxes to maximize savings
Ideally, Americans should be setting aside 15% of their gross income to prepare for emergencies, as well as for retirement and other goals, according to financial experts.
When it came to financial priorities, only 1% of adults said shoring up an emergency fund was a critical financial goal vs. 5% who agreed a year ago. Putting away money for retirement was No. 1, but the number of respondents who felt that way dropped from 28% a year ago to 24% now.
The NeighborWorks findings mirror another survey, released Monday, that also found Americans are doing a poor of job of saving.
The report, from personal finance website Bankrate.com, found that 18% of those surveyed are saving nothing from each paycheck, while another 28% are saving 5% or less of their income.
While not unexpected, those figures are of concern says Greg McBride, Bankrate.com's chief financial analyst. "The burden of retirement savings is increasingly upon us as individuals, and the need for emergency savings is ever present,'' he says. "The meager savings rate isn't going to cut it.''
There are various reasons so many are saving so little, including a cultural fixation on spending rather than saving, and wages that are virtually frozen in place.
"People have recognized the importance of savings and given it a higher priority since the recession,'' McBride says. "But with stagnant incomes they haven't been able to move the needle on how much they've put away.''
Still, the Bankrate.com survey found that 35% of households earning between $50,000 and $74,999 a year were putting away over 10% of their incomes. One in five households earning between $30,000 and $50,000 annually were saving a similar amount. That thrift among the middle class is cause for some optimism, McBride says.
"I think it's very encouraging because it shows that savings is not a function of income, it's a function of discipline and living within your means,'' he says.
"Specific to the middle class, they know they don't have a six-figure income to fall back on, that they're going to have to do the saving themselves. And I think it's also a great testament to the fact that for all the doom and gloom about people not saving or saving enough, there are consumers from all walks of life that have figured out how to do it.''
