(InvestigateTV) — Bankrate reports that 37 percent of Americans have had to tap into their emergency savings within the past year.

Greg McBride, chief financial analyst for Bankrate said that alone is not alarming. However, how people used the money they were pulling out of savings did cause alarm. 

“A little more than half said they needed it for unplanned expenses which is exactly what it’s there for,” McBride shared. “But 38 percent said they were tapping the emergency savings for regular monthly bills like rent or utilities. 32 percent said they were tapping the emergency savings for day-to-day expense, things like food and supplies.”

He said both of those really speak to the strain that many household budgets are feeling and the susceptibility many households have to any sort of

See Full Page