Do You Have Poor Financial Cents?

Ask yourself the tough questions. If you are not comfortable with your financial readiness, you are not alone. About 24% of Americans don’t save for an emergency. In fact, 60% wouldn’t have enough savings to pay for an unexpected $500 expense.    

Experts recommend to have a least three to six months of income in the bank to pay for emergencies or job loss. Yet, only 31 percent have an adequate reserve: enough to cover six months’ or more worth of living expenses.   

A survey from Bankrate.com found 1 in 5 adults has some savings but not enough to pay the bills for at least the three-month minimum.

We don’t like to save, but we sure do like to spend. Americans now have in excess of $1 trillion in credit card debt, according to data from the Federal Reserve, which found that U.S. consumers owe $1.0004 trillion on their cards, up 6.2% from a year ago. This is the highest amount owed since 2009. When we don’t have sufficient savings to cover expenses, we tend to rely upon credit cards, which exacerbates the problem. Compounding the overall situation is the additional $1 trillion in debt for automobiles and student loans.

Our personal financial future is at risk. We have the propensity to spend but avoid saving for the long term. Maybe it is time to start thinking about the future with our wallet and common sense today. The first step is to ask ourselves those tough questions and develop a plan.      

Image Source: http://www.bankrate.com/banking/savings/financial-security-0617      

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