PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A survey of about 1,100 Americans finds that more than 4-in-10 respondents admit they don’t have more than $500 in readily accessible savings.

The survey is a kind of departure for CreditDonkey.com, a website that compares credit card deals. Not respondents all were poor. Some had big houses, big mortgages or 401(k)s, but still no more than five Benjamins to rub together right now.

Now let’s just take a quick moment and explore a few other very important stats:

• The typical U.S. family has just under $4000.00 in savings with 25% of all U.S. households having no savings at all.
• The median household annual income for the typical American is $43,000.00
• The average amount saved for retirement in America is roughly $35K with nearly 40% of the population having reported not saving a single red cent for retirement.

Jill Michal, president and CEO of the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey, reacts to the lack of liquid assets.

“It doesn’t shock me, but it does scare me. You know, we often say that the reason so many people fall off the edge in a tough economy is that they’re standing way too close to it, and I think this is a perfect demonstration of that.”

Michal says there’s a lack of training in personal finances.

In addition to the emergency savings question, the survey found that 54% of respondents don’t have a savings plan in place, and 45% are afraid they’ll never be able to save.

Read more at CBS Philly, Deseret News and Life and Work in Balance