Thursday, June 19, 2014

Emergency savings - Affordability challenges


One in Three adult Americans has no emergency savings.

According to this April 2014 article fromhe housing industry will likely be impacted by the results of a new survey from NeighborWorks America, which serve as a stark reminder of affordability challenges. The survey found that almost 70 million working age Americans – about one-third – have no emergency savings. This highlights a primary problem facing potential homebuyers, as one in three homes are deemed unaffordable to the average buyer, and mortgage originations are reportedly at a 14-year low.
  • Only 25 percent of American have enough saved to cover 30 days of living expenses.
  • About one in five have enough savings to cover three months – about the average time of unemployment for many Americans – while 28 percent expect their emergency funds to cover a year.
  • Approximately 29 percent of adult Americans have no emergency savings in place—whether to pay for the repair of a car that’s required to get to work, or fix a major household necessity such as a roof or furnace.
  • Retirement and buying a home are the top savings goals at 28 percent and 13 percent, respectively.
  • Just 5 percent of consumers say that they are currently saving to create a buffer in case of a financial emergency.
  • 52 percent of people earning less than $40,000 said that they had no reserve.


Even though this is a nationwide study, California is not immune to the phenomenon obviously, and affordability concerns are certainly increased in areas of high prices like the Bay Area. I believe it is important to reflect on it.
 
Thank you for reading,
Francis
 
Trends: Local prices and graphs.
A noteworthy local non-profit event:  Coalition on Homelessness, SF

2 comments:

Kenny said...

Covid19 has certainly brought into focus the stark truth that we, as a society, do not have enough back up funds. After a couple of weeks not working some people have run out of money. We live in a buy now pay later economy and this needs to change.

Francis said...

You're absolutely right Kenny. Most people do not have $400 if they needed to spend it right now, for an emergency. Myself, coming from Europe, I am still shocked by this US reality.