55% of Americans have three months of emergency savings \ stacker news ~econ

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55% of Americans have three months of emergency savings

660 sats \ 20 comments \ @zuspotirko 29 May econ

(and that's the highest ever outside the covid era)

https://www.federalreserve.gov/consumerscommunities/sheddataviz/emergency-savings.html

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82 sats \ 5 replies \ @kepford 29 May

I have to say I'm surprised

10 sats \ 4 replies \ @SimpleStacker 29 May

As in, it's more than you thought?

40 sats \ 2 replies \ @kepford 29 May

Yeah, and I'm very curious about if this accounts for consumer debt. Also, this is for 2024. Not current.

21 sats \ 1 reply \ @SimpleStacker 29 May

We're always hearing doom & gloom about the state of the American consumer, but I've always been suspicious of the doom porn. I remember some statistic that was widely thrown around saying half of Americans couldn't afford a $400 emergency, but it was based on a survey that asked how Americans would pay for a $400 emergency, and less than half said "with cash". But one of the answers was "credit card", which is how most financially well-off people would do it, they just pay off their cards every month.

65 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford 29 May

Most Americans are levered up with debt. But, relatively speaking most Americans are rich compared to most of the people on the planet. It all depends on how you measure things and the definitions being used.

We in the US get the benefit of cheap debt and the goods and services it produces. The rest of the world doesn't really. They just get monetary inflation.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @zapomatic 30 May

more than I thought.

45 sats \ 4 replies \ @cryotosensei 29 May

@SimpleStacker enlightened me recently about just how astronomical the costs of living in the States are

34 sats \ 2 replies \ @zuspotirko OP 29 May

TBF high savings rate could be both a sign of a good economy or a sign of a worse economy. In a good economy people might have more headroom to save. In a bad economy people might be more cautious and save more. We don't know. The only thing we know is there is an undercurrent of a cultural shift.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @cryotosensei 30 May

Good point. Japanese people save a large proportion of their income because of the perpetual low economic growth situation

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @SpaceHodler 22h

Japanese people save a large proportion of their income because of the perpetual low economic growth situation

Do you know why they don't invest much? I've heard only 1/3 of the Japanese population invests. I know part of that is the NISA accounts, which are tax-free, but only allow Japanese stocks, which are non-performing.

It's a really peculiar money culture from a Western POV.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @aljaz 29 May

cost of living everywhere in the west seems rather astronomical these days

15 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford 29 May

Important note that this is a trailing stat. 2024 data.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @guerratotal 29 May

Fascinating stat — but also revealing of the fragility of the system itself. The fact that only just over half of Americans have a mere three months of emergency savings — and that this is considered a record high — says more about the structure of modern economies than about individual responsibility.

It reflects a society where the baseline is precarity, and the exception is stability. In a world of ever-increasing productivity, AI, and automation, isn't it ironic that most people still live one unexpected bill away from crisis?

It makes you wonder — is the real problem financial literacy, or is it that the game itself is rigged to keep most people running on a treadmill of endless consumption, debt, and inflation?

True sovereignty doesn’t come from stacking fiat savings. It comes from opting out of systems designed to leak your time, energy, and future.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @johnwhyte 19h

It's fucked up out here . One bag of chips is for $6 in NYC . Crazy 😧 as phuk

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @stack_harder 21h

to be fair, 3 months in the states could be 15k , juyst on rent plus other bs, maybe some places cheaper etc, but 3 months can be a long time in one of the most expensive places

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @ken 30 May

Emergency: running out of pop-tarts

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Cje95 29 May

I am blown away the number is that high..... The talk always seems to be about how Americans don't have or that they have to much debt.... Jeez to the people with debt seriously owe that much that they are able to impact how we think of people with savings?!?!