Savology has published The State of Household Finances 2026, an original research report drawn from 58,406 households that completed a Savology financial report card — every one scored the same way, across retirement readiness, emergency savings, insurance, debt, net worth, credit, and estate planning.

The headline finding: the typical household earns an overall B−, and the average hides everything. Nine of ten subjects land between a C and a B+; estate planning averages a D+, the only subject the typical household fails. More than half of the households studied — 53.3% — hold none of the seven basic estate documents, despite owning a home, being married, or having children. Among the 28,500 households with children, 88.1% have not named a guardian.

The report also documents a U-shaped retirement readiness curve — households earning $250,000 or more score below a C at essentially the same rate as households earning under $50,000 — and a clean pattern underneath all of it: households are strong in the subjects institutions measure for them, and weak in the subjects nobody measures at all.

The full report, including methodology, limitations, and every figure, is free to read and free to cite. A PDF edition is available on the report page. Written by Brian Case, CFP®, Chief Executive Officer.