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57% of Americans Have Less Than $1,000 in Savings (2017)
- shmerl 9y agoIt would be good to break it by the city as well. I'd expect cities with higher rent to naturally have higher percentage of people without savings.
- post_break 9y agoI wonder how many americans can't afford their cell phone if they had to buy it all up front.
- Yertis 9y agoCredit Card Magic!
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- booleandilemma 9y agoLook around - this is why so many people have phones with cracked screens. They can’t afford the repair cost, let alone the phone.
- eddieplan9 9y agoI had a crack on my windshield for years, and two cracks on my house windows. I did not fix them not because I cannot afford it but because they did not bother me that much and it took time to find a contractor to do the work.
- BugsJustFindMe 9y agoWon't your car insurance repair the windshield crack for free?
- devonkim 9y agoDeductibles are not free on most policies, and not everyone carries comprehensive insurance on their vehicles, especially if they’re worth less than $6000 or so.
- waterphone 9y agoWindshield coverage on an auto insurance plan generally has no deductible. Chips, cracks and full replacement has always been covered for me with no additional cost beyond the $5 or $10 extra a month to have it on my plan. They negotiated and paid in full for a windshield replacement technician to drive 200 miles round trip to my location a few months ago and do a several hour replacement. Definitely worthwhile in certain areas prone to frequent windshield damage.
- DrScump 9y agoWindshield repairs are usually free, with insurance paying the full amount, if you use a provider of their choice (in emergency situations, any provider). Repair saves them a lot of money versus replacement.
- snaky 9y agoMaybe they'd find other smartphone than iPhoneX for their budget. E.g. BLUBOO Maya (5.5" 1280x720 Curved Glass IPS, MT6580, 2GB RAM, 16GB Flash plus MicroSD slot, 13MP plus 8MP Sony IMX219, 3000mAh battery, GSM plus WCDMA, Android 6.0, $63)
- flukus 9y ago2 Full versions of android behind, 18 months old and unlikely to get necessary security updates. Not enough memory or internal storage to run many apps thanks to the "developers are expensive, hardware is cheap" mentality we see so much of around here.
- snaky 9y agoLenovo Moto M (5.5" FullHD with 10-point multitouch, 8-core Helio P15 plus Mali T860MP2, 4GB RAM, 32GB Flash plus MicroSD slot, 8MP plus 16MP, 4G, OTG, Android 7.0, 3000mAh battery, fingerprint scanner, $139)
- sean_anandale 9y agoFortunately, it's taken care of for them. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jun/29/obamaphone-program-riddled-fraud-audit/ https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jun/29/obamaphone-...
- danjoc 9y agoSavings accounts are not a popular way to save.
- matte_black 9y agoDo they really only mean bank savings accounts? I have exactly $0 in savings but tons of money in mutual funds and stocks and bonds.
- gruez 9y ago>survey posed the question, “How much money do you have saved in your savings account?”
- matte_black 9y agoWell, then clearly it was either designed with an agenda in mind or the person who wrote it doesn’t really understand how people save.
- 5555624 9y agoI think a lot of people may save that way. My mother's side of the family is generations of family farms. A savings account, checking account, and the value of the farm -- no stocks, bonds, etc. I know a lot of blue collar workers who a in similar positions (minus the value of a farm). As has been pointed out, in the past here on HN, maybe high schools should teach a class on personal finance. Maybe a lot of these people never think of anything outside of checking and savings accounts and think other sorts of investments ar eonly for the rich.
- craftyguy 9y agoYou might want to consider having some money in a more liquid account than a brokerage account. Generally it takes days to sell/settle/withdraw from a brokerage account. Is that OK if you're experiencing an emergency which requires cashing out from there?
- skybrian 9y agoI don't think this survey says what they think it says. "Methodology: This GOBankingRates.com survey posed the question, “How much money do you have saved in your savings account?” to 8,131 people among all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Responses were collected through a Google Consumer Survey conducted from Aug. 15, 2017, to Aug. 17, 2017, and responses are representative of the U.S. online population." [1] This shows that a lot of people don't have saving accounts. Not that they don't have any savings. For example, they could keep their savings in a checking or money market account. Or as cash. [1] https://www.gobankingrates.com/saving-money/americans-savings-state/ https://www.gobankingrates.com/saving-money/americans-saving...
- candiodari 9y ago"Savings account" however is commonly interpreted as including things like a stock market account, and therefore include most investments. It would not include housing equity and pension savings, but it would include more than just an actual savings account.
- privong 9y ago> "Savings account" however is commonly interpreted as including things like a stock market account, and therefore include most investments. It is? If posed that question I would've responded like the GP suggested and only thought about what is in the bank account that's called a "savings account" and ignored any investments.
- WalterBright 9y agoA stock market account would be a brokerage account, and that is very different (practically and legally) from a savings account. For one, a savings account is insured by the FDIC, a brokerage account is not.
- SilasX 9y agoWell, for purposes of this question, it would make sense to include the cash in brokerage accounts (along with checking accounts), since that’s very liquid and accessible, and is insured through SIPC: https://www.sipc.org/for-investors/what-sipc-protects https://www.sipc.org/for-investors/what-sipc-protects
- Cacti 9y ago> However, the percentage of people with $0 in savings has climbed to 39 percent from 34 percent in 2016. When savings accounts are yielding 0.02%, what's the point? Might as well keep it in checking or an actual investment.
- thomas11 9y agoYou can get 1.35% currently with the free online account at Ally (no affiliation). Still below inflation but much better than 0.02%. Reliable access to a computer or smartphone can be an issue for the really poor but most should be fine.
- TACIXAT 9y agoThe people without savings aren't holding all their money in stocks. 46% of people hold no investments. [0] I'm betting there is a large intersection between that 46% and the 39% with no savings. 0. http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/20/investing/trump-stock-market-americans/index.html http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/20/investing/trump-stock-market...
- SilasX 9y agoThe parent listed checking accounts, not just stocks, as the alternative, and the former are widely used.
- waterphone 9y ago1%+ APY savings accounts are commonly available outside of the mega bank world. Online banks (which are real FDIC insured banks that just don't have the overhead of national chains and all their branches) and credit unions have competitive rates. https://www.doctorofcredit.com/high-interest-savings-to-get/ https://www.doctorofcredit.com/high-interest-savings-to-get/
- wahern 9y agoWhen I opened up my first bank account, a checking account, a mail theft ring operating at my college stole the ATM card and drained the account. It took a couple of weeks before the bank refunded my account, but that's only because there was ATM footage of the fraudulent withdrawal. Under different circumstances it might have taken much longer to get the money back, if at all. To this day I always keep a savings account with enough money to cover emergency short-term expenses, and to accumulate funds for large, non-deferrable expenses like property or income taxes that I couldn't easily put on a credit card. Importantly this account is not linked to my checking account for overdraft protection, nor permits ACH withdrawals. I learned later in life that savvy banking customers (e.g. financial professionals) will create multiple, special purpose accounts with various withdrawal and deposit limits precisely to minimize the risk of fraud, mishaps, etc. But a simple unlinked savings account works well for most people.
- Banthum 9y agoLast time I saw these stats the amazing thing was how little they had to do with income. A huge chunk of people even making over 100k had essentially zero savings.
- kenferry 9y agoThis is very misleading. The question is phrased “How much money do you have saved in your savings account?” I only have checking and investment accounts.
- 5555624 9y agoMy credit union requires a savings account and I'm sure a lot of people only have the required $5 in it.
- test6554 9y agoThis article highlights what not to do, but how much is a sensible amount to have in savings, not including a tax-sheltered retirement account? $10K, $30K, $50K, $100K? I've heard in the past that you should have 6 months to a year worth of living expenses stored up that you can access quickly, but you also have to factor in your age, current economic conditions, and your tolerance for risk. Any thoughts on this?
- IAmGraydon 9y agoAt least a year, IMO. 2 years is a better goal, but then again, I'm a pretty risk-averse person when it comes to being able to pay my bills in an emergency situation.
- username223 9y agoA year if you're debt-free, two or more if you're paying off debts, seems reasonable to me. Ideally, you should be aiming for f-you money.
- toomuchtodo 9y ago6 months minimum, more depending on how risk adverse you are. I keep a year of expenses in high yield savings after living through the 2008 global financial crisis (money market fund with my emergency fund broke $1 NAV, withdrawals temporarily halted at the same time I was laid off when my employer folded). Use a savings account. The funds must be liquid.
- white-flame 9y agoJust curious, what sort of APY does "high yield savings" get you nowadays?
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- waterphone 9y ago
- TACIXAT 9y ago46% of people hold no investments. [0] 57% of Americans don't have enough savings to cover a 500 dollar expense. [1] Nearly half have no retirement savings, which pushes the median retirement savings in the US to 5,000 dollars [2]. Additionally, for families with retirement savings, the median amount of 60,000 dollars. [2] It's not how they asked the question, it's not about savings account rates being low. Most people don't save. Most people are not prepared for retirement. 0. http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/20/investing/trump-stock-market-americans/index.html http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/20/investing/trump-stock-market... 1. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/most-americans-cant-afford-a-500-emergency-expense/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/most-americans-cant-afford-a-50... 2. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/13/heres-how-many-americans-have-nothing-at-all-saved-for-retirement.html https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/13/heres-how-many-americans-hav...
- flukus 9y agoI can't tell if the conversation here is just being pointlessly pedantic or if they are simply out of touch with how many people lower on the socio-economic scale are living. For a variety of reasons living paycheck to paycheck has become the norm.
- jdavis703 9y agoThe U.S. median income is $59,000. There’s no reason if you’re making that much money to not have $500 saved up, so by definition of median at least 50% of Americans should have some kind of emergency fund... I’ve made less money than that and still had money saved up.
- iamaelephant 9y agoCome over here to Sydney and let's see how well you live on that $59k. Your post is far too broad.
- jdavis703 9y agoThe OP specifically mentions the U.S. In the U.S. as cost of living increases, so does median income. New York City and the SF Bay Area have median incomes that are tens of thousands dollars higher than the U.S. median income.
- sean_anandale 9y ago"<1K in savings" often applies to people with substantial and ongoing access to funds explicitly supporting what would otherwise be out of pocket expenses, like rent, food for one's children, utilities, cell phone service, education, etc.
- needcaffeine 9y agoWell, last time this was posted, 69% had less than $1000: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12548610 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12548610 So I guess things are getting better?