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Many Coloradans Not Saving For A Rainy Day

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Recent economic forecasts are predicting Colorado will continue to see recovery and job growth through 2012. However, according to a new report released this week, 1 in 4 Coloradans would not be able to cover their long term day to day expenses if they were suddenly out of a job.

Colorado ranked 22nd on The Assets and Opportunity Scorecard published by the non-profit advocacy group Corporation for Financial and Enterprise Development. The group gave the state a ‘C.’

 CFED works with policy makers and states to study financial security and help American families move to become economically profitable.

The scorecard ranks each state in 6 areas: financial assets, income, business and jobs, housing ownership, healthcare, and education.

While Colorado was ranked highly in business growth* and job quality, Kasey Wiedrich, Senior Program Manager at CFED says the ‘liquid assets’ held by 42% of Coloradans would not be enough for them to make ends meet if they lost their job for three months or more.

“Think about that for a middle class family, if they lost their job they may not have enough savings -and not even enough savings to cover their current level of consumption, the level of consumption that someone would have if they were at the poverty level.”

The scorecard measures ‘liquid asset poverty”, or the amount of savings and financial assets a family could quickly access if they suddenly lost their income.

“It’s really showing how vulnerable families are at a loss of income. And in this economy, we know this is the story and the reality for many families.” Wiedrick stated.

According to the scorecard, the state received an an F in healthcare. That places Colorado in the bottom 5 states. 

State Health indicators that were almost at the bottom of the nation were the percentage of low income children with out insurance, and the rate of uninsured poor compared to Colorado’s richest citizens.

Wiedrick says the top 20% of people by income in Colorado are 10 times more likely to have insurance then people at the bottom 20% by income.

And while it’s not as deep a divide by race, minorities are 2 times more likely to be uninsured then their white counterparts.

CFED says the score card is important to Colorado because it broadens the conversation on financial security. Many studies talk about “income poverty”, what families actually bring in the door to make ends meet. They fail to show if they are actually saving for a rainy day, and have the wealth to be financially secure.