Why Americans Aren't Good at Rebounding from Financial Emergencies - and How You Can Get Better

Are American families becoming more financially resilient? Hardly. A new report from Pew Charitable Trusts found what many economists already know: many American families struggle to make ends meet when facing a financial shock.

“It does not come as a surprise,” George Washington University economist Annamaria Lusardi said of the study, released earlier this month.

Last year, the Federal Reserve reported that 46 percent of Americans would not be able to cover a $400 emergency expense or that they’d have to sell something or borrow money to do so. The Fed’s report in 2015 found that 47 percent would have a hard time coming up with such an amount.