Answer: 41%

Questions:

1. Are you surprised by this number? Why or why not?
2. What are some emergency expenses that could amount to $400?
3. How do you think the 41% cover this emergency cost if they don’t have money saved to cover it?
4. Your friend says that saving is for chumps. He asks you “Why would you want to save money when interest rates that banks pay for savings is so low?” Convince him that saving money is a good idea.

Click here for the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom. 

Behind the numbers (Federal Reserve study):

Four in 10 adults in 2017 would either borrow, sell something, or not be able pay if faced with a $400 emergency expense. While still disconcertingly large, the share of families who would struggle with such an expense has decreased over the past five years. In 2013, half of adults could not easily cover such an expense.

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About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.