With many Americans struggling to build a financial safety net, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its 2025 Emergency Savings Survey, highlighting the biggest obstacles to saving for a rainy day and people’s expectations for their progress this year. You can find highlights from the survey below.
Key Findings:
- No Room to Save: 51% of Americans say their income prevents them from saving for emergencies, while 44% blame inflation and 34% point to their debt.
- Skipping the Safety Net: More than 1 in 4 Americans never contribute to their emergency fund.
- No Savings to Save the Day: Nearly 1 in 5 Americans say they couldn’t come up with $1,000 in cash within 24 hours to save a loved one’s life.
- Debt First, Savings Later: Nearly 2 in 5 Americans say paying off debt is their top financial goal, prioritizing it over things like building an emergency fund and contributing to their retirement savings.
- Hoping for a Bailout: 22% of people expect someone else to bail them out if they run out of money.
- Shrinking Savings Ahead: Nearly 1 in 4 people say their emergency savings will decrease in the next year.
