Americans despite the growing economy do not keep money

Despite the recent increase in jobs, rising wages and declining unemployment, almost a quarter of Americans said they still do not have emergency savings, according to an annual Bankrate.com report released Wednesday.

The number of Americans who said they had no money available in a checking, savings or money market account fell to a seven-year low of 23 percent, compared to 24 percent last year, the study found. The survey was conducted in June by the SSRS research firm, using a national sample of 1,006 people.

"People are not making savings, largely because they do not prioritize saving," said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com.

The percentage of Americans with some savings, but not enough to cover the expenses of three months, increased to 22 percent from 20 percent last year, according to the report. And the percentage with enough to cover the expenses of three to five months increased to 18 percent, from 17 percent last year. However, only 29 percent of Americans have enough emergency savings to cover at least six months of expenses, a financial planning standard. This has dropped 31 percent in 2017.

The economic growth of EE. UU It has not led to greater savings
Less than one in three Americans has enough savings to cover the 6 month expenses

Source: Bankrate.com

"Despite the huge wealth gains we have seen in the stock market and the real estate market, that wealth is very unequally distributed," said Torsten Slok, chief international economist at Deutsche Bank AG in New York. That disparity, he said, is nullifying any gains made in the labor sector.

The middle family simply has fewer resources, Slok said, noting a 2017 report he wrote about the inequality of income and wealth in the United States. About a third of US families UU They have no wealth, or negative wealth, outside the value of their home. "Obviously it is not good from a vulnerability perspective," he said.

But most Americans do not seem to be worried about their financial situation. Sixty-two percent say they are somewhat or very comfortable with their emergency savings. Surprisingly, about one in five Americans without emergency savings said they also felt comfortable.

McBride said they are cheating themselves. "In some cases, it's just a denial, they've never been out of work, had a great medical expense or experienced a significant event that threatened their emergency savings."

More highlights of the report:

Lower-income households are more likely to have no emergency savings, but 27 percent of lower-income households accumulated enough savings to cover at least three months of expenses, suggesting that savings are not income-dependent. In fact, one in four of the highest-income households does not have emergency savings or just enough to cover less than three months of expenses.
Thirty percent of young people in the boom generation, those between 54 and 63 years old, do not have emergency savings, more than any other generation. As expected, they are less likely to be comfortable with their savings. Millennials, on the other hand, were more likely to feel very or somewhat comfortable with their emergency savings.
The Northeast has the highest percentage of Americans who claim to have enough savings to cover six months of bills. The south has the lowest percentage.