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Americans Fail To Add To Emergency Accounts

Posted by Shane Tyler on February 25 2011 @ 6:05 am

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By not saving money in emergency accounts, consumers are leaving themselves vulnerable to credit card debt when an emergency occurs. Over the past year, many Americans have made it a priority to pay down past debt to credit card and mortgage lenders. However, according to a new study, this may be keeping many consumers from putting away funds for emergencies.

The study, which was conducted by Princeton Research Associates, found that nearly 25 percent of Americans had more outstanding credit card debt than they had in their emergency savings.

In addition, among older consumers - age 65 or above - 26 percent had no debt or savings, Accounting Today reports. This was the highest rate observed in any of the study's age demographics.

Nearly 33 percent of survey respondents between the ages of 30 and 49 reported having more debt than savings, the news source says. By comparison, adults under 30 were the most likely to have more in emergency funds than debt.

The study also found only 15 percent of survey respondents were more comfortable with their savings than they were one year previously. This may be due in part to the recent decreases in late payments, as many Americans are seeing the majority of their earnings directed toward their creditors.