JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A new study by NeighborWorks America, a national non-profit, says millions of Americans have little or no savings set aside.
According to the study, one in three Americans or 72-million people don't have any emergency savings.
News4Jax spoke to Carolyn McClanahan, a financial planner from Life Planning Partners. She says it may be difficult to start saving, but it's something we all need to do.
Kelly Rumbach "Yeah, I think it's difficult because there's stuff you want to buy and you don't always think, ‘hey, I should save money'." Kelly Rumbach is a mother of two, She says saving money isn't the easiest thing to do. "In the world we live in, everything's thrown in your face- you got to have the newest car- the newest gadget." But she knows why saving is so important-"You got to save money for these guys so you have a future and you can survive and support them."
Even though the economy is improving, a new study says 34% of adults- or about 72,000,000 people don't have an emergency savings. That's up from 29% of adults who said they had no emergency savings in a similar survey last year.
That same study says it's not just the middle class with empty bank accounts. Around 19% of people making $100,000 or more per year say they have no emergency fund. 53% of people earning less than $40,000 a year said the same thing.
The survey also found that fewer people say that saving is an important goal for them.
McClanahan says this can be a problem. "The biggest financial emergencies usually end up being loss of a job. That's usually number one and it's not always expected when you get fired or laid off. Second, is illness and you can no longer work and third is family emergencies."
She adds that people can get into debt if they don't have money saved. If you have a stable job, McClanahan says you should have 3 months' worth of expenses saved up. If you have an unstable job- where turnover is likely- you should have a year's worth of expenses saved.
She says consider having money automatically drafted to a savings account.
She also says cut back on expenses like eating out and subscriptions like going to the gym- if you don't use it. You should also try to allocate a good portion of your pay increases and bonuses to savings.