How Well are Americans Saving?

When it comes to your money, how much are you saving? If you put some money aside every month into your savings for retirement, good for you-- but your next-door neighbor may not be doing the same thing. When it comes to savings, the results may very well shock you. So just how much is the Average American saving? Read on to find out!

How Well are Americans Saving?

Want the short answer? Not that well. It's not just that people are lazy, either; rising costs of living, layoffs, job reductions, and the amount of money that people are spending on essentials and non-essentials are all factoring in to how much people put away.

According to Time.com, which cited a survey released by the Consumer Federation of America and the American Savings Education Council, the biggest obstacle to saving is the high day-to-day expenses. 27% of people surveyed cited the costs of living as the reason why they were not able to save enough for retirement, while another whopping 25% of respondents answered that debt and debt-related expenses were the main reason they weren't saving for retirement now.

The same Times article stated that only 40% of US households said that they were making good or excellent progress when it came to their savings goals, and the amount of people that are saving 5% of their paycheck decreased by 3% over a period of 12 months from 2015. However, a survey by GoBankingRates found that shockingly, 62% of Americans possess under $1K in savings. That means that well over half the country is currently living from check to check. It means that they don't have enough cash to cover themselves in an emergency and would likely have to rely on a friend or family member in the event of an emergency situation.

So not only are Americans saving less, the majority of Americans barely have any savings at all. The site found that 21% of people said that they didn't even have a savings account, while 28% did but admitted that they had nothing in it. Having upwards of five thousand dollars in an account was rare, although some surveyed were definitely in that niche-- 19%. 

What are we to take from all of this? Some Americans have money saved up that will be something to fall back on if times ever get tough. Some have absolutely nothing between them and poverty except for a paycheck for a job that is not that steady. Less Americans are saving than ever before, with some putting absolutely nothing away. How well are Americans saving? Not very well. But with food costs and everyday expenses rising, it's tough to see how that is going to change.

Sources
http://time.com/money/4232895/retirement-saving-americans/
https://www.gobankingrates.com/savings-account/62-percent-americans-under-1000-savings-survey-finds/