Nearly 40% of Americans Live Paycheck to Paycheck
Life + Money

Nearly 40% of Americans Live Paycheck to Paycheck

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A new report by the Consumer Federation of America found that two in five American households live paycheck to paycheck—that means no savings, retirement account or emergency fund.

The number of families living this way has increased by 7 percent over the last 15 years, in no small part because of the recession.

Now, only 30 percent of Americans say they feel comfortable financially, and only one third think they have enough saved to retire before age 65. In addition, the survey found that 51 percent of Americans feel behind on saving for retirement, a figure that has risen over the last decade and a half.

These findings go hand-in-hand with statistics Bankrate.com uncovered last month: Roughly half of Americans don’t have enough savings to cover three months of expenses, and a quarter haven’t saved a single cent.

This is big news. We know that the earlier we build up our emergency and retirement funds, the better prepared we’ll be and the greater return we’ll see on our money. But that quarter of Americans aren’t so concerned about saving enough–they’re concerned about saving at all.

If you’re having trouble finding that money to save, we recommend creating a budget for your spending according to our 50/20/30 model, and trying our free Cut Your Costs Bootcamp to help eliminate costs in every room of your house.

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