Majority of Americans Feel Behind on Emergency Savings, Survey Finds

A recent Bankrate survey found that 62 percent of Americans feel behind on their emergency savings, including 26 percent who say they feel slightly behind and 37 percent who say they are significantly behind. Alternatively, 23 percent feel right on track with their emergency savings, 15 percent feel ahead, and 20 percent say they have more emergency savings now than they did at the beginning of the year. 

“We know from a separate poll in June that just 28% of households have enough emergency savings to cover 6 months of expenses,” said Greg McBride, Bankrate Chief Financial Analyst. “Signing up for direct deposit from your paycheck or automatic transfer into a dedicated savings account is an important first step to ultimately shifting both the perception and reality that you’re behind on emergency savings.”

The survey found that older generations are more likely to feel behind on emergency savings than younger generations: 73 percent of Gen Xers and 66 percent of baby boomers feel behind compared to 52 percent of Gen Zers and 55 percent of millennials. Gen Xers are also roughly 8 times more likely to say they feel behind than they are to say they feel ahead on emergency savings (9 percent). 

Though 20 percent say they have more emergency savings now than at the beginning of the year, 30 percent of Americans said they have the same amount of emergency savings, and 17 percent said they had none at the beginning of 2024 and they have no emergency savings now. 

The most commonly cited reasons for not increasing emergency savings include inflation/rising prices (53 percent), too many expenses (43 percent), too much debt (24 percent), a shift in income/employment (18 percent), experiencing a large expense (15 percent), and more.

However, 14 percent say they did not increase their emergency savings over the year because they are satisfied with what they have. For Americans with more emergency savings now, 44 percent say they are ahead of where they should be, 25 percent say they are behind, and 31 percent say they are on track.

“Expenses, and the fact that those expenses have increased, have been a headwind to boosting emergency savings this year, but are particularly cited among those households that find themselves with less emergency savings now than at the beginning of 2024,” said McBride.