Americans are feeling better about their job security and the economy, but most are theoretically only one paycheck away from the street.
虽然美国人现在感觉就业与经济的状况已经有了好转，但在理论上其中大多数离睡大街只有一步之遥
Approximately 62% of Americans have no emergency savings for things such as a $1,000 emergency room visit or a $500 car repair, according to a new survey of 1,000 adults by personal finance website Bankrate.com. Faced with an emergency, they say they would raise the money by reducing spending elsewhere (26%), borrowing from family and/or friends (16%) or using credit cards (12%).
大约有62%的美国人没有应急储蓄，而一次急诊需要1000美元，一次汽车维修则需要500美元。个人理财网站Bankrate.com对大约1000名成年人的调查表明，在面对紧急情况是这些人中的26%会通过减少其他支出来筹集资金、其他16%会从家人或朋友借款、12%的人会使用信用卡。

"Emergency savings are not just critical for weathering an emergency, they're also important for successful homeownership and retirement saving," says Signe-Mary McKernan, senior fellow and economist at the Urban Institute, a nonprofit organization that focuses on social and economic policy.
Urban Institute的高级研究员麦克南说“应急储蓄并不仅仅对紧急事件很重要，对于养老以及保有自己的住房同样非常重要”
The findings are strikingly similar to a U.S. Federal Reserve survey of more than 4,000 adults released last year. "Savings are depleted for many households after the recession," it found. Among those who had savings prior to 2008, 57% said they'd used up some or all of their savings in the Great Recession and its aftermath. What's more, only 39% of respondents reported having a "rainy day" fund adequate to cover three months of expenses and only 48% of respondents said that they would completely cover a hypothetical emergency expense costing $400 without selling something or borrowing money.
美国联邦储备理事会去年发布的一项涉及4000多位成年人的调查表达了类似的观点。这项研究发现，在经济衰退后许多家庭的存款在减少。在2008年之前有银行存款的家庭中，有57%的家庭说他们已经在经济危机及之后的日子动用了一部分甚至全部的存款。更重要的是,只有39%的受访者表示拥有一个“雨天”基金足以支付三个月的生活费用（译注：雨天意思是贫困时期）,只有48%的受访者表示,他们可以在不借款或变卖家产的情况下迅速凑集400美元以应付紧急情况。
Why aren't people saving? "A lot of people are in debt," says Andrew Meadows, a San Francisco-based producer of "Broken Eggs," a documentary about retirement. "Probably the most common types of debt are student loans and costs related to medical issues." He spent seven weeks traveling around the U.S. and interviewed over 100 people about why they haven't saved enough money. “People are still feeling the heat from the Great Recession." Some 44% of senior citizens have enough savings to cover unexpected expenses versus 33% of millennials, Bankrate.com found.
那为什么人们不存款呢?安德鲁.梅多斯（Broken Eggs的制作人，一本描写退休生活的片子）对此解释为：“因为很多人正陷于贷款的泥潭中”。“大多数贷款是学费贷款和医疗贷款。”他花了七周时间在全美采访了超多100多位被采访者，以试图了解为什么他们不能攒下足够的储蓄。“人们依旧感受到经济危机的余波。”在Bankrate.Com可以发现，44%的老人有足够的存款以应对紧急支出，与之相对的是千禧一代只有33%。
On the upside, the Bankrate survey found that 82% of Americans keep a household budget, up from 60% in 2012. Even in the age of the smartphone, most people keep a budget the old-fashioned way, either with a pen and paper (36%) or in their heads (18%). Just 26% of those surveyed say they use a computer program or smartphone app. "A solid majority of Americans say they have a household budget, which is a good thing. But too few have the ability to cover expenses outside their budget without going into debt or turning to family and friends for help," said Claes Bell, a banking analyst at Bankrate.com.
同样是Bankrate.Com的研究表明，82%的美国人开始使用家庭预算来量入为出，比2012年的60%有了明显的提高。但这些预算大多数依旧是用笔纸等老方法(36%)或仅仅是大脑里的大致想法(18%)。只有26%的受访者表示会使用电脑程序或手机App帮助他们指定预算。Bankrate.Com的一位银行分析师Claes Bell表示：“绝大多数美国人说他们有家庭预算是一个好现象，但依旧只有小部分人可以在不借贷的情况下应付预算外的开支。”
But while the jobs market is improving and the Affordable Care Act has given an estimated 15 million people access to medical care, the Great Recession does appear to have taken its toll on Americans' finances; in fact, they're 40% poorer today than they were in 2007. The net worth of American families — that is, the difference between the values of their assets, including homes and investments, and liabilities — fell to $81,400 in 2013, down slightly from $82,300 in 2010, but a long way off the $135,700 in 2007, according to a report released last month by the nonprofit think tank Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C.
尽管就业情况正在改善，平价医疗法案也已经惠及1500万人，经济危机依旧在给美国人的经济状况敲响了警钟。事实上美国人的家庭净资产比2007年缩水了40%。根据上个月华盛顿皮尤智库研究中心发布一份报告，2007年时美国人的家庭净资产为135700美元，2010年时为82300美元，2013年时则跌到81400美元。