Yeah I've seen that in articles before. "Oh no Americans have no money in checking!" I keep very little in checking by design. It's a transactional account. Income comes in, every dollar has a place it belongs before it even shows up. I keep a bit of cash in the house.

What emergency is going to come up that it can't be covered by the cash, a charge card, or wait a couple business days? I can't think of anything.