Economy
Two-Thirds of Americans Could Be Ruined by Another Recession

Published:
Last Updated:
If recent history is any guide, the United States could face another serious recession in the next year or so. The Great Recession officially ended eight years ago and, on average, another U.S. recession follows along in about six years. We’re overdue.
How well are Americans prepared for the next recession? Not very, according to a survey released Monday by GOBankingRates. A full 60% of Americans have yet to recover from the Great Recession and 68% have no investment strategy to help cope with a new recession. In fact, 49% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.
The situation is worse among women, 69% of whom say they couldn’t cover six months of living expenses from savings. Among men, 52% say they don’t have enough savings to cover six months of living expenses.
Among other data points from the survey:
Methodology: This GOBankingRates survey posed six questions to 1,007 people in the United States. Responses were collected through Survata on May 30, 2017, and responses are representative of the U.S. online population. The survey has a 3.1% margin of error.
Respondents were asked the following questions, and could only answer “yes” or “no”: (1) Are you currently living paycheck to paycheck? (2) Do you currently have enough money saved to cover six months of living expenses? (3) Are you ready to search for a new job with an updated resume? (4) Do you have multiple streams of income? (5) Does your investment strategy account for a recession? (6) Were you personally affected by the recession of 2008?
The average American spends $17,274 on debit cards a year, and it’s a HUGE mistake. First, debit cards don’t have the same fraud protections as credit cards. Once your money is gone, it’s gone. But more importantly you can actually get something back from this spending every time you swipe.
Issuers are handing out wild bonuses right now. With some you can earn up to 5% back on every purchase. That’s like getting a 5% discount on everything you buy!
Our top pick is kind of hard to imagine. Not only does it pay up to 5% back, it also includes a $200 cash back reward in the first six months, a 0% intro APR, and…. $0 annual fee. It’s quite literally free money for any one that uses a card regularly. Click here to learn more!
Flywheel Publishing has partnered with CardRatings to provide coverage of credit card products. Flywheel Publishing and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.