<div><h1>UP THE CREEK WHEN THAT RAINY DAY COMES </h1><p>How well can Americans deal with a financial emergency? Almost half (46%) of 2,148 consumers surveyed recently said they weren't confident they could come up with $2,000 within a month in a crisis--from savings, family, friends, credit cards, or other sources. Even among those earning $100,000 to $149,000 a year, almost 25% doubted they could raise it, according to The Personal Risk Assessment and Risk Literacy Survey, conducted by research firm TNS with academics from Harvard Business School and Dartmouth College. "We wanted to know if people could fix a broken car or furnace," says Harvard finance professor Peter Tufano, who adds that most studies he has seen measure "how much [cash] people have ... not how much they can access." The survey results surprised him. "[The] ability to cope with emergencies is much less strong than we might have thought." </p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=63289707&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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