By Ann Carrns, New York Times
How is your emergency savings fund doing?
Nearly half of Americans say they lack enough emergency savings to cover three months of expenses, according to new survey from Bankrate.com.
Still, Bankrate noted that a similar poll done in 2006 found that 61 percent of Americans lacked a three-month cushion. So the recent findings suggest that the financial crisis convinced more Americans of the importance of savings. “People got the message,” said Sheyna Steiner, who writes about investments for the site.
There’s room for progress, though. The general rule of thumb is that you need a cushion of at least six months. But only a quarter have saved that much, about the same as a year ago.
Meanwhile, nearly a third the people responding to the survey said they had no emergency savings, up from a quarter last year. That’s risky because savings are crucial to avoiding high-cost credit card debt when unexpected expenses arise.
In general, Bankrate’s June financial security index showed Americans are feeling a bit better than they did a year ago. Just 32 percent said they were “less comfortable” with their savings, a new low.
The telephone survey was conducted June 7 to 10 by Princeton Survey Research Associates International. The survey included 1,000 adults, with a margin of sampling error of 4 percentage points.
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