Do you have emergency savings?

This post comes from Sheyna Steiner at partner site Bankrate.com.

Have Americans already forgotten the lessons learned in the financial crisis? The number of people with no money saved for emergencies has risen to 28%, up from 24% a year ago, according to Bankrate's Financial Security Index.

About one in five people are slightly better off, with enough savings in an emergency fund to cover less than three months of expenses, while 42% of those polled say they have at least three months' worth of cash saved. (Post continues below.)

Income and education matter

The general rule of thumb calls for enough cash to cover six months of living expenses. It depends whom you ask, though. The recession prompted many financial advisers to boost that recommendation to 12 months' worth or more.

Not surprisingly, earning more than $75,000 per year vastly increases the odds of hitting the minimum recommendation of six months; 45% of high-income earners say they've reached or surpassed that mark.

Only 9% of these high earners say they have no rainy-day fund, compared with 52% of those earning less than $30,000.

A college degree is also fairly predictive of emergency fund savings: 41% of college graduates report enough savings to cover expenses for six months or more, versus 14% of those with a high school education.

Saving vs. paying down debt

While Americans may be struggling to save money, the collective debt load is smaller than it was several years ago, particularly when it comes to revolving accounts such as credit cards.

Between 2008 and 2010, consumers significantly paid down revolving credit accounts, according to figures from the Federal Reserve's April report on consumer credit.

Rather than stocking household coffers with extra funds, consumers who now lack substantial emergency funds may have used extra money to service debt instead.

"While the debts are down quite significantly on a household basis from prior years' levels and the households are much better off, I believe that this drop in debts came at the expense of savings," says Robert Fuest, the chief operating officer and head of investment research at Landor & Fuest Capital Managers in New York.

Now that debt loads are lighter, the new challenge is to build up savings to avoid falling back into a cycle of debt.

Breaking bad habits

Consumers are constantly barraged by marketing, none of which espouses living below your means and managing money responsibly.

"Many Americans used debt to fund about 20% of their lifestyle choices. They were running cash-flow negative, in essence," Fuest says.

Scaling back spending doesn't happen overnight, particularly in a society where the economy is powered by ever-increasing consumer demand.

It can take some time to change the mindset that leads to overspending, but there's an easy shortcut to boosting savings: automation.

"If you have an employer that can split out the amount that you are taking home and force-feed savings into an account that is out of sight and out of mind, I think that is one of the best ways," says Elliot Herman, a certified financial planner and partner at PRW Wealth Management in Quincy, Mass.

Alternatively, if your employer doesn't offer the option of splitting your direct deposit, an automatic transfer can be set up from your primary checking account to a savings account on the same day you're paid. The end result is the same; the money is spirited away before it's available to be spent.

Where to park your emergency fund

For most people, establishing an emergency fund is a process in which a small pile of savings gradually grows into a larger one.

Keeping emergency savings fairly liquid is important, but once the fund reaches critical mass, savers may want more yield than they can find in a savings account or money market account.

With a sizable pot of money saved, placing a portion into a short-term bond fund could be a good idea, according to Herman.

"I would be wary of some of the higher-yielding short-term bond funds; those could have minefields within them that we don't know about right now. I don't think they're worth the risk. But I think there is something in between those and an ultrasafe savings account that is higher quality and is worth the risk," he says.

Yield should be secondary to liquidity, though. In general, earning a decent return on your savings is less important than simply having funds at the ready.

In the recession, Americans saw "how fast things can change, and they change beyond your

control," says Susan Hirshman, the president of consulting firm SHE LTD and author of "Does This Make My Assets Look Fat?"

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"The only person responsible for you is you. You really can't rely on anyone," she says.

With millions still out of work, home values still depressed, and a fog of uncertainty around government-sponsored​ safety nets, there should be enough out there to scare people into saving.

More on Bankrate.com and MSN Money:

• How to grow your savings
• Compare savings rates
• Savings: Best measure of financial health
• Why you need $500 in the bank
• Why you need 2 emergency funds
• How much will my savings grow?