Key Points
- 55% of workers cannot afford to pay an unexpected $500 expense from their savings account
- Worker households are turning to retirement accounts to cover emergencies
- In 2025, 6% of 401(k) participants made a hardship withdrawal, a record high
By the Numbers
For the past 40 years, personal finance advice has been organized around a single bad guy. When a person loses their job, their income stops and a savings account carries the household until the next paycheck arrives. However, this framework is based on the assumption that workers are actually in good shape.
Suze Orman, one of the founding partners of SecureSave, says the danger is now shifting to workers. 55% of workers cannot afford to pay an unexpected $500 expense from their savings account.
Worker households are turning to retirement accounts to cover emergencies. In 2025, 6% of 401(k) participants made a hardship withdrawal, a record high.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Why are workers' financial struggles increasing?
- Because the difference between workers' income and expenses is decreasing
- Why are retirement accounts being used as emergency funds?
- Because workers have no other options to cover emergencies
- What does the future of this situation look like?
- It is expected that more workers will fall into financial struggles in the future
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