It wasn't that long ago that a Bankrate.com survey suggested that most Americans aren't prepared for an unexpected financial emergency. It was estimated in 2018 that 55 million people or more had nothing put away in an emergency fund. As for those who had enough to cover 3 to 6 months expenses, the survey estimated it was only around 18 percent of Americans who had that much saved.

Millions of people wouldn't be able to handle an unexpected emergency of $1,000, only about 39 percent the survey suggested could cover that unforeseen cost.

Things might be improving, although not by that much. A more recent survey from Bankrate has found that the average household in the United States has about $8,000 or more in liquid savings.

In 2018, it was suggested that the average household had about $4,830 in liquid savings, there are still millions with $1,000 or less saved.

Financial experts routinely warn that people should put away enough to cover at least 3 to 6 months expenses, but for millions that's a difficult goal to reach.

Still, in the United States today it's estimated that 1 in 3 middle-class families are struggling financially, with at least 1 in 8 Americans who don't get enough to food to eat. Consumer debt is also at an all-time high, in the trillions of dollars, with the average American owing at least $4,293 on their credit card. It isn't only Americans who are struggling to save either, reports suggest that a quarter of British adults also have no savings, savings levels are low for people in many regions around the world.

All That Cheap Money Floating Around

The current state of things could be said to be a triumph of Keynesianism, with its intrinsic process of monetary debasement.

It's clear that the Fed's inflation goals and easy money policies haven't helped to grow wealth and income for the poor and middle class, as much as they've been seen to help higher-income households. The creation of new money from the Fed isn't going to benefit everyone equally.

"The people who get the money first - the government, big banks, the big corporations, the military-industrial complex - benefit." - Ron Paul

Less interventionism and more freedom is what would help more people to improve their situation, save, and escape poverty. Though, some suspect that we might not see any drastic changes to monetary reform until after we've experience a major currency crisis.

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