Americans are saving less, and that could be one reason they haven’t gone hog-wild over reportedly less-than-stellar deals in the lead-up to the holidays.

That’s the word from the Country Financial Security Index, which has been tracking consumers’ downward arc in their ability to save since 2007.

According to the index, only 42 percent of Americans were able to put money away for either savings or investments over the past two months. When the index began in 2007, the pre-recession saving rate was 55 percent — still not great, but far better than it is now.

Those aged 40-49 seem to be having the roughest time, with only 32 percent saying they managed to sock away any money to use for holiday shopping.

Things could be worse: Seventy-five percent reported they are confident about being able to pay their bills on time. Pity the poor millennials, though. Only 62 percent of them said they can get those bills down.

Still, Country Financial found grounds for optimism in the fact that 25 percent of survey respondents said their financial security was improving; that tally was up five points since June. According to the company, that could be because they have less debt to worry about. However, overall, Americans’ financial confidence is holding steady, with 42 percent rating their financial security as “excellent” or “good.” That’s up just a single percentage point from June’s rate of 41 percent.

And, of course, respondents’ degree of optimism depends on their income level. Among those in the $100,000-$175,000 range, 62 percent rated their financial security as good or excellent. Only 24 percent of those in the $50,000-$100,000 range said that, and among those in the $30,000-$50,000 range, just 20 percent said so.

Those in the top bracket were also far more likely, at 34 percent, to say their financial security was improving, compared with the middle range — less than a quarter (24 percent) — or those at the bottom (only 16 percent).

What’s surprising is that, in that lowest bracket, 30 percent said they were able to put aside money for savings or investments. Of those in the middle bracket, nearly half (48 percent) were able to do so, and the top bracket maxed out at 59 percent doing some saving.

Instant Insights /

Fewer than half of Americans saved for the holidays

More From HR Executive

Related Stories

Recommended For You