Are you confident about the amount of cash you have stashed?

Think you can save a million dollars in your lifetime? It appears some of you aren't so certain. Most of your peers aren't too sure you could either. In fact, they don't think Americans are saving nearly enough overall.

The Consumer Federation of America and Wachovia are learning about Americans' saving behavior from the more than 2,000 adults questioned in a survey conducted last month by the Opinion Research Corporation and released Monday.

More than half of the respondents admit that they're not too confident about how much they are saving. Two out of three believe they have enough for an unexpected expense such as a car repair, but far fewer think they have enough set aside for an unexpected expense plus a long term financial need such as retirement.

Nearly four out of five of those questioned think Americans aren't saving enough. This isn't too surprising when you consider how credit card debt has increased over recent months.

CFA Executive Director Stephen Brobeck says the results reveal "the importance of socio-psychological barriers to saving and easy access to attractive accounts."

The economic factors that are causing some of the participants trouble include large regular expenses, unexpected expenses, low or unreliable incomes and large consumer debts. Some admitted to impulse spending as another type of barrier, along with credit cards, social pressure from loved ones, playing the lottery and gambling. And I think quite a few us can relate to their reasons for overspending, especially at this time of year.

According to the study, attractive savings accounts, such as contributory retirement programs; easy access to a savings account paying 5 percent; and automatic transfers from checking or payroll deposits to savings can persuade some to save more.

What is preventing you from saving and what would persuade you to save more? Tell us at bankruptcyblog@bankrate.com