Amber Comber, a single mother of two twentysomething sons “eating me out of house and home,” had hit a rough patch.
Comber, now 53, was an assistant manager at The Fresh Market’s Charlotte, North Carolina, store when she started scraping and pinching to buy a home. “It was hard, with the mortgage and the taxes and all the things,” Comber said
Shortly after she bought her home, she and her sons went away for the weekend, and returned to discover the refrigerator, fully stocked with brand-new food, had stopped running. Shortly after, Comber’s car broke down. She had a small amount of savings, but the combination of the unexpected expenses forced her to dip into her 401(k) account.
After that experience, “I just wanted to have an emergency buffer,” Comber told USA TODAY. For Comber and thousands of other Americans, that hoped-for buffer is now a reality. Their employers offer workplace “Emergency Savings Accounts,” allowing a portion of each paycheck to be diverted to a bank account dedicated to exactly what it sounds like — a broken-down car, a medical emergency, or unexpected school uniform expenses.