Over A Fourth Of Americans Have No Money In Their Savings Accounts; Half Of Them Would Be Broke Within Three Months Of Losing Their Jobs, Says Bankrate.com

Three out of four Americans aren’t living by an oft-cited recommendation that everyone should have a cash reserve sufficient enough to cover six months of living expenses.

Consumer financial services company Bankrate.com surveyed 1,000 adults and found that half of them couldn’t make it for three months after their last paycheck without completely depleting their savings. More than 250 of those people said they have no savings at all, according to the survey’s findings released Monday, a little more than the number who said they had at least six months’ worth of living expenses available in cash.

The report found that this number of people basically living hand-to-mouth has remained unchanged since 2010, despite more people being employed and being in better financial positions than they were back then.

This applies even to people with incomes suggesting that they should have the ability to save up some cash reserves. Twenty eight percent of the adults surveyed making at least $75,000 a year, or well above the median national income, said they had less than three months of living expenses saved up.

Last week a separate survey by online lender CashNetUSA found that 22 percent of the 1,000 adults it surveyed had less than $100 in their savings account while 46 percent had less than $800 -- which isn’t enough to cover even the average health insurance deductible.