In the past few days, three surveys have been released thatpaint a rather bleak picture of Americans' financial status andexpectations about retirement.

Perhaps the most startling finding came from a national surveyfrom CashNetUSA.com.Surveying about 1,000 Americans, 23% report they had less than $100in savings to fund an unexpected emergency on a given day, while46% say they have only $800 tucked away in a savings account.

Meanwhile, Aviva USA's recent Consumer Attitudes to Savingssurvey pretty much mirrors those results, with only 27% revealingthey have enough money saved to pay for an unexpected emergencywhile seven out of 10 report having no savings account at all. Justunder half own life insurance and roughly a third holdinvestments.