More than one in four working Australians can't pay their bills on time and find it hard to make ends meet.
And one in three have less than $1,000 in the bank for a rainy day.
Those are the disturbing figures uncovered in a financial fitness study commissioned by fintech startup Map My Plan.
The survey of 1,617 workers found that 28 per cent were "financially unfit" - unable to meet regular payments, weighed down with credit card debt and having either limited or no insurance.
Even more had insufficient emergency savings, with the report finding that one in 10 people would plunge into debt if they lost their job.
"We have an incredibly low level of savings from people," said Map My Plan chief executive Paul Feeney.
"30 per cent of people save less than $100 a month."
He said having control over your daily finances and the ability to absorb financial shocks, like losing a job or taking on additional expenses, were the keys to financial stability.
"If they don't have those two things everything else they've got will just fall over," he said.
"And a lot of people just can't absorb the financial shock."
The report found that the average Australian's rainy day nest egg could only last about three months and that more than half were worried about being able to afford retirement.
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