NEW YORK—One-in-five Americans say they have more credit card debt than emergency savings, according to a new study.
The Bankrate study also reveals that another 12% said they had no credit card debt, but also had no savings, reported MarketWatch in its analysis.
Bankrate surveyed 1,000 people during early February, and had some good news among its findings. More than half (58%) of respondents said they had more in emergency savings funds than in credit-card debt.
“That is the highest percentage Bankrate has ever had—tied with the amount who said this in 2015, MarketWatch noted.
“We’re seeing progress,” Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate, told MarketWatch. “Unemployment is coming down, people are making more money, and they’re finally making progress on right-sizing the equation between credit-card debt and emergency savings.”
Millennials were actually standouts for their good savings behavior, McBride said. Some 61% of millennials said they had more emergency savings than credit-card debt. Just 54% of the members of Generation X said they had more, compared to 56% of baby boomers and 67% of members of the Silent Generation.