14 Signs That Most Americans Are Flat Broke And Totally Unprepared For The Coming Economic CrisisMichael Snyder One of the primary principles that any of these financial experts that you see on television will teach you is to have a cushion to fall back on. At the very least, you never know when unexpected expenses like major car repairs or medical bills will come along. And in the event of a major economic collapse, if you do not have any financial cushion at all you will be a sitting duck. Yes, I know that there are millions upon millions of families out there that are just trying to scrape by from month to month at this point. I hear from people that are deeply struggling in this economy all the time. So I dont blame them for not being able to save lots of money. But if you are in a position to build up an emergency fund, you need to do so. We have been experiencing an extended period of relative economic stability, but it will not last. In fact, the time for getting prepared for the next great economic downturn is rapidly running out, and most Americans are not ready for it at all. The following are 14 signs that most Americans are flat broke and totally unprepared for the coming economic crisis #2 That same survey discovered that an additional 13 percent of all Americans do not have any credit card debt, but they do not have a single penny of emergency savings either. #3 At this point, approximately 62 percent of all Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. #4 Adults under the age of 35 in the United States currently have a savings rate of negative 2 percent. #5 More than half of all students in U.S. public schools come from families that are poor enough to qualify for school lunch subsidies. #6 A study that was conducted last year found that more than one out of every three adults in the United States has an unpaid debt that is in collections. #7 One survey discovered that 52 percent of all Americans really cannot even financially afford the homes that they are living in right now. #8 According to research conducted by Atif Mian of Princeton University and Amir Sufi of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, 40 percent of Americans could not come up with $2000 right now without borrowing it. #9 That same study found that 60 percent of Americans could not say yes to the following question #10 A different study discovered that less than one out of every four Americans has enough money stored away to cover six months of expenses. #11 Today, the average American household is carrying a grand total of 203,163 dollars of debt. #12 It is estimated that less than 10 percent of the entire U.S. population owns any gold or silver for investment purposes. #13 48 percent of all Americans do not have any emergency supplies in their homes whatsoever. #14 53 percent of all Americans do not even have a minimum three-day supply of nonperishable food and water in their homes. Perhaps none of this concerns you. Perhaps you think that this bubble economy can persist indefinitely. Well, if you wont listen to the more than 1200 articles that set out the case for the coming economic collapse on my website, perhaps you will listen to former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. The following is what herecently told one interviewer And as I have stressed so frequently, the signs that the next crisis is almost here are all around us. For example, the Baltic Dry Index has just plunged to a fresh record low, and things have already gotten so bad that some global shippers are nowfiling for bankruptcy Perhaps you do see things coming. Perhaps you do want to get prepared. If you are new to all of this, and you dont quite know how to get started preparing, please see my previous article entitled 89 Tips That Will Help You Prepare For The Coming Economic Depression. It will give you some basic tips that you can start implementing right away. And of course one of the most important things is something that I talked about at the top of this article. If at all possible, you have got to have an emergency fund. When the coming economic storm strikes, your family is going to need something to fall back on. If you are trusting in the government to save you when things fall apart, you will be severely disappointed. This article first appeared here at the Economic Collapse Blog. Michael Snyder is a writer, speaker and activist who writes and edits his own blogs The American Dream and Economic Collapse Blog. Follow him on Twitter here. 