Study finds few have enough savings to get through emergencies

More than a quarter of Americans have little or no savings to help them survive an emergency that leads to a three-month loss of income, according to a new report on the health of Americans' finances.

And that's only if they can sell their homes or cars to get fast cash.

The number jumps to 44 percent when researchers exclude assets like homes, businesses and cars that could be sold to raise cash, according to the Washington-based nonprofit Corporation for Enterprise Development, which got an assist from Ohio Policy Matters.

In other words, lots of us are asset poor, even if our incomes may look OK on paper.

www.cleveland.com/consumeraffairs/index.ssf/2012/01/study_finds_few_have_enough_sa.html