In 2018, one-fourth of middle-income adults said they skipped some kind of medical care because of its cost, suggesting insufficient savings can have implications for physical health as well as financial health. Thus, low levels of savings can create a challenging cycle when material disruptions in income, or even smaller unexpected expenses, spiral into a broader financial setback.
Financial security in retirement A key component of middle-class financial security is the cushion of savings to cover retirement. Here, the DFAs suggest some progress. One of the innovations of the DFAs is that they include defined benefit plans from the Financial Accounts in addition to defined contribution plans, whereas measures of household pension wealth in the SCF are confined to the latter.