A new poll released on Thursday shows that one-third of Americans have more credit card debt than emergency savings.
Bankrate, a consumer financial company, found that the percentage of people with more credit card debt than emergency savings varies by generation. Millennials lead the trend, with 42 percent carrying more debt than savings, followed by 39 percent of Gen Xers, 27 percent of Gen Zers, and 24 percent of Baby Boomers.
This number has increased over the years. Between 2011 and 2022, fewer than 30 percent of Americans had more credit card debt than emergency savings, the poll said. Due to inflation, Bankrate noted that in 2023, 36 percent of Americans had more credit card debt than emergency savings.
The New York Federal Reserve released a study this week showing that America in the fourth quarter of 2024 had $1.21 trillion in credit card debt.
In the first quarter of 2021, Americans had $770 billion in credit card debt. Over almost four years, the country’s credit card debt increased by over $440 billion.
The poll also found that almost one-third of Americans have more emergency savings than in 2024. On the other hand, 27 percent of Americans said they had less savings than a year ago.
“The number of households reporting more savings than one year ago has been steadily increasing. This is evidence that as the pace of inflation has slowed, it has enabled more Americans to make progress in building, or rebuilding, their emergency savings,” said Greg McBride, Bankrate’s chief financial analyst.
Furthermore, the poll said that only 28 percent of Americans are focused on building emergency savings, while 24 percent said they want to pay down their credit card debt.
In terms of emergency savings, almost 60 percent of Americans feel uncomfortable with it, the study found.
To feel comfortable about their emergency savings, the poll found that 89 percent of Americans said they needed three months of expenses saved up.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at [email protected]. Follow Zachery on Twitter @zacheryschmidt2.
