Thursday, January 8, 2015

Could You Deal With a Financial Emergency?

How prepared are you to deal with a financial emergency? Most American's aren't very well equipped to do so, according to a new survey from Bankrate. More than 60 percent of all Americans say they wouldn’t even have enough money in their savings accounts to pay for an unexpected car repair or medical emergency.

Only 38 percent said they could cover a $500 repair bill or a $1,000 emergency room visit with funds from their bank accounts. Such an unexpected bill would cause 26 percent of Americans to reduce spending elsewhere, 16 percent say they'd have to borrow from family or friends, and 12 percent would put the expense on a credit card.

Interestingly enough, the same survey found that 82 percent of all Americans keep a household budget. The most popular budgeting tool is a simple pencil and paper, used by 36 percent of those surveyed. The same percentage use a computer budgeting program as keep all the numbers in their heads - 18 percent in both cases.

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