All of us would love to know that we are financially secure for the rest of our lives. We would love to be confident in the fact that a roof will remain over our heads and food will always be on the family’s table. 

The reality is, however, that financial pitfalls can occur in any of our lives. For example, people lose their jobs. Maybe you get laid off. Maybe you or a loved one has a medical emergency. Our cash flow and saving habits often don’t meet the needs of the risks in life.

USA Today reports that most Americans (even the wealthier of the country) fail to save the amount of money that financial advisers suggest we should save. In fact, a large percentage of the nation’s consumers have less than $1,000 in savings. That amount in savings wouldn’t go far should unemployment, illness, injury or another emergency strike. 

It is when life’s emergencies do strike that so many men and women have to turn to credit and, therefore, build levels of debt that can become impossible to climb out of. Therefore, discussing methods to try to build a healthy savings buffer is a preemptive debt relief method. 

The common advice is for American households to have enough in savings to be able to cover about six months of living in case an emergency presents itself. Do you have that much saved? If not, follow the next post and see if you could apply some of the saving advice to your life.