Fewer Than Half of Americans Have $1,000 Saved for Emergencies. Here's Why That's a Huge Problem

Having money saved for emergencies is pretty important, but it's simply not something everyone has done. In fact, according to recent research from Ramsey Solutions, just 49% of Americans have at least $1,000 in a savings account for unexpected expenses. And, sadly, 33% have absolutely no money in the bank at all in case something goes wrong.

While it is understandable that saving for emergencies can be hard and may not be on the top of everyone's list of financial priorities, it's actually a really huge problem that so many people have so little money to fall back on. Here's why.

Emergencies aren't a question of if, but when

The sad reality is that those who do not have money saved for emergencies are very likely to face one at some point. That's because everyone is likely to experience a surprise unexpected expense on a pretty regular basis. In fact, one Pew study found that 60% of households had experienced a financial shock in the past year, and a third of households had experienced at least two!

These unexpected expenses weren't small ones either, with the median household spending half a month's income on their surprise expense, and the median cost coming in at $2,000. And, these shocks happened across all income levels, affecting rich people as well as poor ones.

I recently had to spend a surprise $800 for new tires when one of mine was discovered with a tear in it, and my family had to deal with drywall and roof repairs when a particularly bad rainstorm caused an unexpected leak to occur directly over our bed.

Without at least $1,000 saved to cover these kinds of surprise expenses, a little bump in the road can turn into a huge long-term disaster.

Debt can often be the only answer without emergency savings

In a lot of cases, when a financial shock happens and there's no money in savings, people end up having to turn to debt. This could mean using credit cards, which is expensive enough, as the average interest rate on a card is 21.47%. Or, in a worst case scenario, those who can't use cards could get stuck with payday loans that have interest rates of around 400% annually.

Once you've taken on this debt and committed to making monthly payments for it, you'll end up with even less money going forward to cover both routine expenses and any further surprises that come your way. You could end up in long-term financial trouble, which is why the Pew survey revealed that more than half of households struggled to make ends meet after their shock happened.

This is bad, but there are even worse consequences you could face -- like foreclosure or repossession if you can't cover a car bill or a mortgage payment.

The bottom line is, if you're one of the majority of Americans without $1,000 saved, you should work on fixing that ASAP. You can start with depositing your tax refund into savings if you get one -- which may be enough by itself. You can also work a side gig for a little bit to save $1,000, sell belongings you don't really need, or dramatically slash your budget temporarily, perhaps by giving up luxuries for a while like eating out.

RELATED: Emergency Fund Calculator

Yes, it will require sacrifice, and it may not be fun to try to come up with this money. But it's better to do it now before the disaster strikes, so the cash will be there when you need it.