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Nearly 70 million adults have no emergency savings, while nearly one in four would run out of money in 30 days, according to a new survey put out by NeighborWorks America. The survey found that 22 percent, or roughly 53 million adults, have only enough emergency savings for one month. Results from the survey also found that 48 percent of respondents said their cash reserves would last as long as three months, and 28 percent expect savings to last for a year. In total, 68 percent of consumers reported setting aside money in case of a financial emergency.
Top savings goals reported by the survey include retirement and buying a home. 13 percent of survey respondents listed saving to buy a home as their top priority. A big factor in whether a person had emergency savings was race. The survey found that of the 29 percent of adults with no emergency savings, 43 percent were African-American and 39 percent were Hispanic. White respondents made up a reported 24 percent of adults with no emergency savings. Higher income earners were more apt to save, with only 11 percent of people making $100,000 or more per year with no emergency fund.
In a bit of good news for homebuyers before the prime spring season, mortgage rates fell back a bit this week, according to a report from Freddie Mac. In its weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey, Freddie Mac reported the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging a rate of 4.34 percent for the week ending April 10, a decline of 0.7 from the previous week's rate of 4.41 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year fixed was down nearly a full percentage point at 3.43 percent.
