The Blubber

Per Bloomberg

An online survey on behalf of SecureSave found that of 1,100 adults in America found that only a third of Americans would be able to cover an emergency cost of $400 comfortably. This means that the remaining two-thirds of Americans would either be unable to cover the amount or at least struggle to come up with the sum.

The survey came from Suze Orman's emergency savings startup, which found that the results were a sharp decline from a previous survey from the Federal Reserve that found that 68% of respondents a year ago could afford the $400 emergency expense.

This comes as American personal saving rates have dropped to a 17-year low while household debt starts to climb. In October 2022, the income saving rate dropped to just 2.3%.

The numbers have dropped because, during the previous survey, most people still saved up the stimulus money they received during the pandemic. With rising prices, however, American savings have depleted significantly, and now, per Orman, the situation is reversed for millions of Americans, especially those in the lower and middle income.

Orman: “I think the people that we’re talking about and we care about – they’re already in a recession, if not a depression... It’s not great right now on any level and it’s going to get worse.”

While only a few Americans can manage the $400 emergency expense, a report notes that the richest 1% of people have actually gotten 2/3rds of the wealth created in the past two years, which is worth $42 trillion. It was noted that for every $1 the bottom 90% make, a billionaire would get $1.7 million with a 1:1,700,000 ratio.

Devin Miller, CEO and co-founder of SecureSave, gave a statement regarding the state of most Americans. He noted how low to moderate-income households are suffering.

Miller: “People are pulling from whatever pockets they can... The low to moderate income set of households are teetering on the edge right now.”

See flow at unusualwhales.com/flow.

Other News:

• American Personal Saving Rate Dropped to 17-Year Low While Household Debt Climbs
• Report Says Richest 1% of People Amassed 2/3rds of the Past Two Years' $42 Trillion New Created Wealth

Resources:

Bloomberg