"Saving for a rainy day" has become more of a saying than words to live by.

"I think maybe some people may not really think about it and may get caught up in the moment," said Lisa Marie, who's working towards a career in hospital billing. "They should probably stop and think about what happens or emergencies."

A study released by the Corporation for Enterprise Development found that in Texas, excluding homes and autos, half of residents are below the liquid asset poverty rate, meaning they have less than $4,200 in available emergency money.

The state's high income poverty rate of 17.9% plays a role but many people just don't put enough away in savings nor retirement accounts.

"It's tough in today's environment, people are stretching their budgets and it's tough for them to live within their means," said Daniel Garcia, a financial planner with Ameriprise.

"It's something that you need to know but people aren't really concerned with preparing kids my age for," added Deanna Husting, a senior at Trinity University.

Garcia said his group often speaks to college students but even sees adults who come into his office with little savings no-how.

"They don't necessarily think that we're the type of people that can help them out," said Garcia, who offered the advice of starting a budget and sticking to it. Also, get your money into savings without ever seeing it.

"The easiest way to save is obviously systematically, if we can set up something where it's pulling out of your check or bank account every month to save," said Garcia. "If it's out of sight out of mind, most of the times for people it's easier to start out that way."