A $1,000 unexpected emergency expense could derail the lives of more than half of all Americans, according to a new survey, The Hill reported. The survey was conducted by Bankrate, a financial analysis and comparison site. Bankrate found that only 44% of Americans surveyed could afford a $1,000 emergency expense. That number is actually up one percentage point from the previous year, the company said. Those 56% of Americans who couldn’t weather the storm said they would address that unexpected emergency charge in other ways. Most (21%) said they would use a credit card, 10% would borrow from loved ones and 4% would take out a personal loan. Only 16% said they would reduce their spending to address an unexpected emergency expense, Bankrate said. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of Americans said inflation was causing them to save less for emergencies. On the flipside, however, 19% said they were actually saving more for emergencies specifically because of rising interest rates which are friendly to those putting extra away into their savings accounts.
