Most Americans Are Flat Broke

Most Americans don't have nearly enough money stashed away for emergencies and more than one-in-four don't even have a single penny saved. While the general rule of thumb is to have an emergency fund that will cover at least six months of expenses, only 25% of Americans have that amount saved, research released Monday by Bankrate.com finds.

About 49% of Americans don't even have enough money saved to cover three months of expenses -- slightly worse than the 46% of Americans who reported having less than three months worth of savings last year. And 28% don't have any cushion whatsoever -- up from 24% last year, according to the report, which was based on a survey of 1,000 adults. "Incomes are largely stagnant, so it's difficult for people to make significant headway on savings when household expenses are creeping higher but incomes are not," said Greg McBride, senior financial analyst for Bankrate.com.

"Prolonged unemployment has also depleted the savings of many people who at one time had a more appropriate cushion." Read more >>