Quick Read – Just 46% of Americans have a three-month emergency fund, down from 53% in 2021, reversing a decade of hard-won progress. – Only 22% of households earning under $25,000 have an emergency fund, versus 66% of those earning above $75,000. – With credit card APRs near a…
cord 21%, building to $1,000 first and automating a 2-3% paycheck transfer cuts borrowing risk fastest. – The headline number that gets thrown around in personal finance, that most Americans cannot cover a $1,000 emergency, sounds like clickbait until you look at what the surveys actually show. The reality may be worse
According to the FINRA Foundation’s 2024 National Financial Capability Study, only 46% of U.S. adults have set aside enough money to cover three months of living expenses in an emergency. That leaves a majority without a meaningful buffer, and the trend has recently moved in the wrong direction. The number is moving in the wrong direction The 46% figure marks a notable drop from 53% in 2021, reversing gains that had built steadily from 2009 through the pandemic.
For context, in 2009, only 36% of Americans had three months of emergency savings. It took more than a decade to push that number higher, and a meaningful portion of that progress has been erased in just a few years. This infographic shows that only 46% of U.S. adults have a three-month emergency fund, down from 53% in 2021.