The money problem Americans are concerned about even little more than inflation
Key takeaways:
- According to a new Bankrate survey, nearly 2 in 5 Americans say that money problem negatively affect their mental health.
- The top two problems are not having sufficient emergency savings and being able to cover daily expenses.
- As steady inflation weighs down customers, personal savings rates have fallen below their pre-pandemic levels.
The issue of money weighs on the minds of numerous Americans. According to a recent survey by Bankrate, some 2 in 5 U.S. adults say that money problems negatively affect their mental health.
That should likely come as no shock, as inflation continues to flow at 40-year highs, but the most common reason for that misery is not enough emergency savings.
Of the eight categories respondents could select from to describe the primary source of their financial concerns, about 3 in 5, or 57%, said that not having enough emergency savings played a role.
Almost the same percentage, 56%, said that not being able to pay everyday expenditures came in a close second at 56%.
Not having emergency savings came in as Americans’ No. 1 financial concern shouldn’t be unexpected, says Mark Hamrick, senior economic critic at Bankrate.
“Our surveys traditionally have revealed the number one financial regret are the failure to keep for emergencies and the failure to save for retirement,” Hamrick says. Over the years, “those have been difficult to knock out of that top spot.”