Saving for a rainy day is hard, and the younger you are the harder it is. According to a new survey from Bankrate.com, 66 million Americans have no money saved for an emergency, and just one-third of Americans ages 36 to 51 (Gen X) have saved anything at all. Only 27% of other Americans of all ages have saved anything.

Only 28% of all Americans have put aside an emergency fund equal to six months of expenses. The good news is that percentage is up from 22% a year ago. Millennials (ages 18 through 34) have been saving at about the same rate as Gen Xers, with two-thirds reporting at least some savings. Nearly half of Americans older than 71 have accumulated enough savings to cover six months of living expenses.

Income levels are nearly equally important in the amount of emergency savings someone is able to pile up. Nearly half of Americans with annual incomes of $75,000 or more have accumulated six months worth of savings, while more than half of Americans with incomes of less than $30,000 have saved nothing.

Bankrate.com’s chief financial analyst, Greg McBride, said:

This underscores the fact that it takes time, especially because expenses grow faster than many Americans can save during the home-buying, family-raising years.

Saving for an emergency competes with saving for retirement, paying for the kids’ college educations, health care expenses and the rising costs of day-to-day life.

The overall picture appears to be improving, however. June marks the 25th consecutive month that Americans’ financial security has improved, with men reporting more security for the 28th straight month. Women have reported increasing financial security in 16 of 28 months including eight of the past 12.

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