Suze Orman says 41% of workers delay medical care when emergencies hit — and 1 in 4 raid retirement savings

For years, Suze Orman has preached that everyone should have an emergency fund for unexpected expenses — a code-red piggy bank, as it were. She even co-founded SecureSave, an employer-sponsored automated savings plan, to help employees build one.

The assumption is that workers can set aside three to six months' worth of expenses in an emergency fund. But Orman was struck by a recent SecureSave survey that found most workers haven't saved anywhere near that — forcing them to make dire choices in a crisis.

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"No one in this country should have to skip a meal or delay medical care because a car repair came first — yet that's exactly what 41% of workers told us they're doing," Orman said .

SecureSave surveyed over 1,000 working Americans aged 18 to 65 in June. One in four had no emergency fund at all while 67% had less than three months' expenses set aside. Far less.

At least 45% had less than a month's expenses saved up. This is consistent with an 2025 Empower survey that found that Americans' had a median $500 in emergency savings.

That's why many workers are doing without when faced with a crisis — choosing between food and car repairs, for example. Many more are turning to credit cards to stay afloat.

Concerningly, one in four workers dips into retirement savings to cover unexpected expenses. Some report that they don't think they'll be able to retire at all due to the snowball effect of debt.

Moneywise reached out to Craig Copeland, director of Wealth Benefits Research at the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), to find out what can be done to help American workers build up their emergency savings in the short term to protect their long-term financial security.

Why employers offer emergency-fund savings plans

One of the reasons Orman recommends an emergency fund is to reduce financial anxiety, which not only keeps workers up at night but distracts them at work.

Three in four report that financial worries affect their motivation on the job, according to a 2026 survey by CAPTRUST, a financial advisory firm. It can lead to absenteeism. In fact, 38% of SecureSave survey respondents said they'd skipped work due to financial woes.