Study: Nearly half in U.S. lack financial safety net

Almost 44 percent of Americans have such paltry financial assets set aside that if they were to lose their income, they would not be able to stave off poverty for more than three months. Almost one-third have no savings accounts at all. These findings, from a report by the Corporation for Enterprise Development, underscore the plight of the working poor, who have great difficulty pulling themselves to greater prosperity. One interesting solution is prize-linked savings, wherein credit unions reward savers with a chance to win a big monthly or yearly prize, to turn gambling instinct into saving instincts.