Hey, New York City! Here's your bummer of the day. We're all pretty broke here in the United States. At least you're not the only one though, right?

Bankrate released a survey on Wednesday that revealed that few Americans are taking steps to prepare for unexpected expenses. 

The majority of Americans aren't prepared for emergency expenses like emergency room visits or car repairs.

Just how far over half of Americans aren't prepared for these emergencies? According to the survey, for which Bankrate commissioned Princeton Survey Research Associates, 63% of Americans are unprepared for these situations.

This number is up from 62% last year. It's not a high increase, but it's an increase nonetheless. 

Bankrate conducted this survey by interviewing 1,000 people, and found that four in ten had either experienced an emergency expense in the past 12 months or had an immediate family member who had.

"The survey shows that a very significant minority of American households apparently don't have the resources to pay for an unexpected expense of around $1,000," said Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America.

[anad]

Do these results skew more heavily if we examine them through the lens of New York City? We're guessing yes, since a different poll, conducted in November, showed that half of NYC's dwellers are barely, if at all, making ends meet.

In a completely unsurprising twist, the survey showed that people with higher incomes were more likely to say that they would rely on savings in an emergency. More than half of those earning $75,000 or more a year said they'd use their savings for an unexpected expense.

Everyone else? Well, 37% of everyone polled in Bankrate's study said they'd pay for unexpected expenses with savings, 23% said they'd do it by reducing spending on other things, 15% said they'd use credit cards, and 15% said they'd borrow from family and friends.

Of course, we should also keep in mind that since Bankrate paid for this particular survey, they were hoping you'd see this information and take out a loan at Bankrate.com.

Regardless, the same information proved true in other studies. One released by the US Federal Reserve of more than 4,000 adults back in 2014 found that 62% of those polled had less than $1,000 in savings.

fuckjerry Me on New Years


Whether you take out a loan or don't, we should advise you to start thinking more about your savings during this conversation. We'd be remiss if we didn't.

Could you put away a twenty from every paycheck to cover unexpected expenses? You could. Would those twenties start adding up? They certainly would.

Still, we recognize it's hard to save in NYC when most of your paycheck is designated to your astronomical rent, but it's still something we should all be thinking about. 

Saving is even harder in the current economic climate in the US today whether you live in NYC or not, too. More Americans are facing student debt than ever, and millions of Americans are handling staggering medical bills.

There is some good news when we examine the results for just millennials. Last year, more millennials than ever said they'd use savings in an emergency.

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Some other good news is that Governor Andrew Cuomo just announced that the State of New York will now cover the student debt for recent college graduates for two years.

So, there is good news among a mostly bummer of an article. Don't take this information and let it bum you out though, just start, you know... saving your money. We know that's easier said than done, believe us.

If you really need to learn how it's done, listen to Lil Dicky's hit, "Save Dat Money" single. He'll tell you how it's done.

Check out Governor Cuomo Plans to Renovate Penn Station & Rename It Empire Station.

[via Bankrate] [Feature Image Courtesy Instagram] 

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