You need $500. How should you get it?

The (bad) options for Americans facing an emergency expense.

A 2023 Federal Reserve survey found that a third of Americans say that they don’t have the cash to cover a $500 emergency expense. So what happens if they need it?

In this video, we compare six of the ways Americans say they get money when they don't have it: credit cards, bank loans, borrowing from a friend or family member, payday loans, selling something, and going into overdraft. How difficult is each one to access? How does paying off each kind of debt work? And how much does each one cost down the line?

None of these options are great for someone who can’t pay an emergency expense. But some of them are a lot worse than others.

This video is presented by DCU. DCU doesn’t have a say in our editorial decisions, but they make videos like this possible.

Sources and further reading:

[Hororrex]

The placement of that ad made me feel like it was a terrible payday loan option. Would recommend placing relevant ads away from negative statements, or atleast giving a clear transition.

[cms]

How interest rates of more than 100% per year aren't illegal is absolutely beyond me. These things are basically designed to bankrupt poor people.

[TheodoreMiller]

Appreciate your videos! I’m 54 and younger generations should know there’s no shortcut to acquiring wealth, but there are ways to go about it. Fellow millionaires don’t tell the poor/middle class they need the knowledge of finance coaches to help build their wealth. If anyone here needs a good coach, here’s it..

[georgetrammell]

Fantastic video, but the unintroduced financial ad in the middle felt a little sneaky.

[SMNAviation]

Terrible ad placement and transition. Should have the commentator or letters make it clear an ad is coming up.

[aryanuada]

I remember the sheer relief I had when I got my first bonus at my new company in March. It was small since I started recently, but it meant I could finally cover an emergency expense.

One month later my car broke down. The cost? My bonus....

[RobinRaye-npvw]

Not the point of the video, but this is a reason why car dependancy contributes to poverty

When you design your society so that everything is super far away, amenities are in a completely different area from houses, public transport is underfunded, and huge crisscrossing highways make walking impossible, you end up forcing people to own a car just to survive

This video could've been about any kind of expense, but my point still stands that poorer Americans would be less vulnerable to debt traps like this if they were allowed to limit major expenses, like car payments and repairs

[SeanMather]

I feel like DCU might not be an appropriate sponsor fit for this video. Whole thing feels like an ad now.

[RachelDavis]

I feel bad that 1/3 of people can't just pay for something that's $500. That makes me sad in a country with billionaires who could wipe their butts with $500. Also, I love the pixel art and video game style of this video.

[ziqi]

My best friend from high school got hit with a double whammy a few years ago: medical debt and legal bills. Why? Husband got shot while doing a delivery and was falsely accused of being a thief. They’re working class in TX of all places and so borrowed money from me (after really struggling for a year) to pay off their debts. They profusely thanked me and are currently paying me back gradually, but it’s pretty obvious that they’d literally be on the streets and likely dead from exposure if I hadn’t stepped in. (Their car was impounded as crime scene evidence when her husband got charged and couldn’t afford the fees to get it out.)

America can do better than this.

[dormikdelron]

Please don't put ads in the middle of short videos. It's compromising the flow and watchability of your videos. It's very distracting. People shouldn't get an objectively worse experience just because a sponsor tells you to.

[qwertyuiop]

Stopped watching after that financial ad - pretty low

[DeannaMurray-zv]

Buying a stock is easy, but buying the right stock without a time-tested strategy is incredibly hard. Hence what are the best stocks to buy now or put on a watchlist? I’ve been trying to grow my portfolio of $560K for sometime now, my major challenge is not knowing the best entry and exit strategie;s ... I would greatly appreciate any suggestions.

[oddlyenough]

Asking money from those you know always has a cost. It may not be monetary though.

[dosadoodle]

Overdraft fees are scheduled to go down to $8 in the US as early as June 1st thanks to a new rule being pushed forward by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, so hopefully this video will be outdated in just over a month after being published.

[Sirrajj]

USA is debt ridden country, so much problems around debts & loans, corporation lobbyists freely prey on citizens, student loans are huge & on top of all Americans are chronic buyers who love to spend what they don't have through credit cards & loans...

[princevanced]

as someone who has little to no knowledge about how all these work, this kind of video helps me a lot. the kind of things i wish taught in school

[xjokunen]

Been saying this for a while! Poor people dont have the luxury of making better financial choices. For example: If youre struggling to pay necessities, you also probably cant pay for a bigger package that would last longer and saves money in the long run.

[kosephdrums]

"Start an emergency fund"
Translation: "stop being poor"

[MoeThermodynamics]

Imagine you didn't have to own a car to move efficiently around your city/country, and that you didn't have to pay exorbitant amounts of money for basic health care. How much would people save then?