In fact, another study found that 6 in 10 Americans do not have enough saved to cover three months of expenses. While the statement that 40 percent of Americans can’t cover a $400 expense is false, Americans’ ability to handle emergencies such as loss of a job, a major house or car repair, or a medical emergency, is troubling. Whether those are the best ways to pay for an emergency is, of course, debatable. The remaining 27 percent said they would cover the expense through such means as putting it on a credit card and paying it off over time, borrowing from a friend or family member, selling something, or taking out a loan. While 61 percent of Americans said they would cover a $400 emergency expense with cash or its equivalent, only 12 percent said they would not be able to pay for the expense right now. Some politicians are using a similar line.Īs Michael Strain and others have pointed out, saying that almost 40 percent of Americans can’t cover a $400 emergency expense is not correct. This statistic has led some news outlets to say, erroneously, that nearly 40 percent of Americans can’t cover a $400 expense. For example, money put into a savings account is liquid, thus it is readily available if a household needs to cover an emergency expense.Ī recent survey from the Federal Reserve Board found that 61 percent of Americans said that they would cover a hypothetical $400 expense with cash or its equivalent, a record high since the question was first asked in 2013. Liquidity, or the amount of assets easily convertible to cash, is an important concept when evaluating household financial well-being. Real estate makes up the vast majority of nonfinancial assets. For a family of three, that’s over a million dollars in assets.Īlmost three-quarters of aggregate household assets are in the form of financial assets-namely stocks and mutual funds, retirement accounts, and closely-held businesses. population of 329 million, it would result in over $343,000 for each person. If that amount were divided evenly across the U.S. For context, that is over five times as much as all the goods and services produced in the U.S. households held over $113 trillion in assets. Liabilities, or debt, is the opposite-think mortgages, student loans, and car loans. Assets are resources with economic value-think houses, retirement funds, and savings accounts. Wealth, or net worth, is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. There’s a lot of wealth out thereĪmerican households held over $98 trillion of wealth in 2018. Her proposal would levy a two percent tax on household net worth above $50 million and a three percent tax on household net worth above $1 billion.Īs the Democratic candidates debate how to best address economic inequality, here are six things to know about wealth in the United States. She has proposed a wealth tax on the richest Americans, sparking intense debate about wealth inequality in the United States. Senator Elizabeth Warren, one of the leading contenders for the nomination, will take the stage. On Wednesday night, the first of the 2020 Democratic debates will take place with ten candidates vying for the national spotlight.
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