Even though you might think it would go the other way, since married couples have to provide for a family, it turns out that singles don’t do as well at either making or saving money as someone who’s tied the knot.
That’s according to a new survey by TD Ameritrade, which finds that only 29 percent of single survey respondents in the U.S. said that they were very financially secure. That compares with 43 percent of married individuals.
Three out of ten single Americans, it finds, are not saving any money, compared with 17 percent of married people who are not saving. Single people are also making less money than their married counterparts, and are more likely than their hitched friends to blow their entire paycheck and never get any of it into savings.
Married people are also more likely to own a home than single contemporaries, despite being at similar stages of their work lives. But of course if you spend it as soon as you get it, that makes it tough to amass a down payment for a place of your own.
Then there’s the little matter of having an emergency fund. Only about a quarter of single people have money set aside in an emergency fund, compared with 40 percent of married people.
And then there’s retirement. “When it comes to retirement, many singles don’t feel they’re able to afford it,” Dara Luber, senior manager of retirement at TD Ameritrade, is quoted saying in the report. Luber adds, “According to the survey, they're clearly making less and saving less.”
Luber suggests disability insurance as a way to start to create emergency savings—particularly since it can keep a person from raiding any retirement savings they may have. Luber says in the report, “Make sure you have enough health and long-term disability insurance to cover yourself if something happens. You don’t want to have to eat into retirement savings. That typically should be the last resort. You’re going to pay a penalty, and you won’t get the benefit of compounded growth.”
One reason single people may be saving less and spending more, the report theorizes, is that they don’t have a partner to help with monthly expenses such as rent or car payments. Two incomes are better than one, and married couples that are both bringing in income are likely to be in a better financial position than a person living alone on one income.
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