[PragmaticPulp]

That was an informal poll performed by a personal finance website. It’s not a scientific study.

Furthermore, read the actual question they asked. They didn’t ask if people could pay the expense from savings. They asked how people would pay the expense.

The options include things like “reduce spending in other areas” aren’t mutually exclusive with being able to draw down on savings accounts. Many people prefer to reserve their savings for retirement unless necessary.

[viraptor]

I'm not sure that really changes the overall picture. https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/othe... gives 39% of people who would either go into debt, sell something, or couldn't cover an emergency $400. Even if the number is skewed a lot (say it's 20%), it's still a massive amount of people.