25 Percent of Americans Still Have More Debt Than Savings

Situation hasn't gotten worse, but hasn't improved

One in four Americans have more credit card debt than they do emergency savings, according to a new survey by Bankrate.com. The disparity is due to people’s wages remaining stagnant in recent years, while expenses for things like food and health care have edged up, said Greg McBride, senior financial analyst. “It just leaves less money that can be put toward debt repayment or emergency savings,” he said. Only about 55 percent of Americans have more emergency savings than credit card debt, and about 16 percent had none of each. Nearly 4 in 10 people said they were feeling less comfortable about their savings levels than a year ago, while nearly half were feeling about the same. The results suggests that, in general, people’s ability to save up for a rainy day and keep a handle on credit card debt hasn’t gotten much worse in recent years - but it hasn’t improved, either. (Today)

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