According to an article on CNBC’s Personal Finance website roughly 57 million Americans have no savings.  However, according to Bankrate.com, we are supposed to cheer this news, as it is an improvement from last year.  I don’t know about you, but that stat doesn’t get me feeling any better about our economy or its prospects.

What I find most disconcerting is the fact that 32% of 53-62 year-olds haven’t saved anything. Zippo! This is the age group that should be finally able to sock away something for a rainy day, if not for retirement, and a whopping 32% have no savings.

It is not surprising then that another study by United Income would find that “older Americans have also become steadily more pessimistic about their economic prospects.”

Given the poor financial state that our consumer find themselves in, I can’t help but wonder where the consumption will come from that will drive our economy forward, given the fact that roughly 70% of U.S. GDP is driven by the consumer.  GDP growth of >3% seems to be a pipe dream these days.