Most Americans don’t have enough money saved to cover their expenses for three months if they were to suddenly lose their job or get injured, and 40% don’t think they could come up with $2000 suddenly if the need arose, report Princeton University professor Atif Mian and University of Chicago professor Amir Sufi on their blog The House of Debt, based on data collected in FINRA’s 2012 National Financial Capability Study.
“Excessive household debt was crucial in explaining the severity of the Great Recession,” write Mian and Sufi. “Households are extremely vulnerable to shocks, and many have too much debt. Are these two patterns related? The answer is unequivocally yes.”
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