MANY AMERICANS LACK EMERGENCY SAVINGS.
The Osgood File. Sponsored in part by Barbasol Shaving Cream. Start your day with Barbasol, America's leader for a close shave. Close shave, America. Close shave, Barbasol. This is Charles Osgood.
When it comes to shaving, we're in great shape in this country - but when it comes to saving, we're not.
Listen to this...
SOT - Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.Com
"Nearly half of Americans - 49 percent - do not have enough emergency savings to cover three months' worth of expenses. And even more alarming, 28 percent of Americans have no emergency savings at all - which means they're just one unplanned expense away from having high cost debt." (:16)
That is Greg McBride of Bankrate.Com, which is out with a new savings survey.
More on that after this...
((( BREAK )))
It's no secret how so many Americans got into the bad shape they're in savingswise, says Greg McBride.
He's the senior financial analyst at Bankrate.Com, which did the survey.
SOT - Greg McBride
"Savings were anemically low during the go-go days of the housing boom. And even though people realize the importance of saving now, they haven't made a whole lot of progress over the last 12 months - and they're not feeling very comfortable about it." (:11)
Nor should they be, says McBride.
SOT - Greg McBride
"When you look at this environment where we've had very high unemployment - long periods of unemployment - it argues more than ever for the need to have an adequate savings cushion. And frankly, not enough Americans have it." (:12)
Not to mention the R-Word.
SOT - Greg McBride
"Americans are woefully undersaved - not only for emergencies, but also for retirement. And this environment of stagnant wages is not helping them make any progress." (:09)
Apparently, a lot of us are feeling uncomfortable - and yet more positive. How do you explain that?
SOT - Greg McBride
"Despite the fact that emergency savings aren't quite where they need to be, Americans are still slightly positive about their financial security relative to where they were a year ago. The people that are less comfortable with their debt hit a new low - and that's reflective of the fact that people have made progress in paying down those debt burdens." (:17)
Good for them - but not good enough, says Greg McBride. Thank you, sir.
The Osgood File. This is Charles Osgood on the CBS Radio Network. |
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