NEW YORK, June 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Fewer than one in four Americans (24%) have enough savings to cover at least six months' expenses, according to new research from Bankrate.com (NYSE: RATE). Exactly half have less than three months' expenses saved up, and 27% have no emergency savings whatsoever. These numbers have barely budged in the past three years.
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They have improved a bit from the pre-recession days of 2006, when only 39% of Americans had at least three months' expenses saved up. But that modest progress isn't nearly enough, according to Greg McBride, CFA, Bankrate.com's senior financial analyst.
"We measure five key components of Americans' financial security each month, and we routinely find that savings is the weakest area," he said. "People who are less comfortable with their savings now versus a year ago outnumber people who are more comfortable by a margin of nearly two-to-one. That's especially jarring since people are feeling much more optimistic about other aspects of their finances."
Bankrate.com's Financial Security Index reached a new high of 102.7 in June. This is the fourth consecutive month in which consumers have indicated improved financial security compared to the previous year. Specifically, consumers currently say their net worth is higher, they feel more secure in their jobs, they're more comfortable with their debt and their overall financial situations are better.
- Only 17% report lower net worth than last year, the lowest since polling began in Dec. 2010.
- Those feeling more secure in their jobs outnumber those feeling less secure by a two-to-one margin. Merely 13% of employed Americans feel less secure in their jobs compared to one year ago, a new low.
- Thirty percent of Americans feel more comfortable with their debt compared to one year ago, a new high.
- And just one in five Americans feel their overall financial situation is worse now than one year ago, tying the lowest reading.
The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International (PSRAI) and can be seen in its entirety here:
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/consumer-index/financial-security-charts-0613.aspx
PSRAI obtained telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,004 adults living in the continental United States. Interviews were conducted by landline (501) and cell phone (503, including 247 without a landline phone) in English by Princeton Data Source from June 6-9, 2013. Statistical results are weighted to correct known demographic discrepancies. The margin of sampling error for the complete set of weighted data is plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.
About Bankrate, Inc.
Bankrate is a leading publisher, aggregator, and distributor of personal finance content on the Internet. Bankrate provides consumers with proprietary, fully researched, comprehensive, independent and objective personal finance editorial content across multiple vertical categories including mortgages, deposits, insurance, credit cards, and other categories, such as retirement, automobile loans, and taxes. The Bankrate network includes Bankrate.com, our flagship website, and other owned and operated personal finance websites, including CreditCards.com, Interest.com, Bankaholic.com, Mortgage-calc.com, CreditCardGuide.com, Nationwide Card Services, InsuranceQuotes.com, CarInsuranceQuotes.com, InsureMe, Bankrate.com.cn, CreditCards.ca, NetQuote.com, and CD.com. Bankrate aggregates rate information from over 4,800 institutions on more than 300 financial products. With coverage of nearly 600 local markets in all 50 U.S. states, Bankrate generates over 172,000 distinct rate tables capturing on average over three million pieces of information daily. Bankrate develops and provides web services to over 80 co-branded websites with online partners, including some of the most trusted and frequently visited personal finance sites on the Internet such as Yahoo!, AOL, CNBC, and Bloomberg. In addition, Bankrate licenses editorial content to over 500 newspapers on a daily basis including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Boston Globe.
For more information:
Ted Rossman
Public Relations Manager
Bankrate, Inc.
[email protected]
(917) 368-8635
SOURCE Bankrate, Inc.
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