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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Half of Americans say they aren't prepared for a minor financial emergency.
A new study by the National Bureau of Economic Research shows 50% of Americans would struggle to come up with $2,000 in a pinch, for example in the event of an unanticipated car or home repair, a large medical bill or legal expenses.
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Roughly 28% said they "certainly" would not be able to cope with an unexpected $2,000 bill if they had to come up with the money in 30 days, and another 22% said they "probably" would not be to able to cope.
Only a quarter of Americans said they are certain they would be able to come up with the funds.
A majority of the 1,900 Americans surveyed said they would have to rely on more than one method to come up with the emergency funds.
While 60% said they would dip into savings, 34.2% said they would have to ask family and friends for help and 29.5% said they would have to resort to credit cards, a home equity line of credit, reverse mortgage or unsecured loan. Budgeting for an emergency fund
The National Bureau of Economic Research also surveyed seven other countries including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Italy, Portugal and the Netherlands.
Of those, people in the Netherlands were the most optimistic, with 57.7% of their respondents saying they were "certain" they could handle a $2,000 emergency.
I've been at that point in my life, not that long ago. When my husband was out of work for a full year, and the emergency funds were reaching their last legs, I did reach the point that I wondered if I would have to start putting things on credit cards to get by. Shortly after that, hubby found a good paying job, and we have spent the last two years building our emergency fund back up.
But that was after an entire "rainy year". So we were prepared for the rainy day, and when it came, we weathered it.
This article is very sad, but very true. Actually, with the current economy the way it is, I find it a little reassuring that 1/4 of people do say they have $2000 put away for a rainy day. I would have figured the number to be smaller than that.
i think people have different definitions of savings. i consider pretty much all of my money "savings."
its funny how people are so dumb with their money and then we are all supposed to feel some obligation to help them out. i dont mind helping people who cant help themselves but helping people who waste their money and never thought to save is really aggravating. the problem is that if you offer them no help, you have lots of homeless people and starving people running around jerking tears from bleeding hearts.
I've been at that point in my life, not that long ago. When my husband was out of work for a full year, and the emergency funds were reaching their last legs, I did reach the point that I wondered if I would have to start putting things on credit cards to get by. Shortly after that, hubby found a good paying job, and we have spent the last two years building our emergency fund back up.
But that was after an entire "rainy year". So we were prepared for the rainy day, and when it came, we weathered it.
This article is very sad, but very true. Actually, with the current economy the way it is, I find it a little reassuring that 1/4 of people do say they have $2000 put away for a rainy day. I would have figured the number to be smaller than that.
So he could not find ANY work? What about unemployment, welfare?
Were you working?
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