It doesn’t take $1 million to achieve the top predictor of financial well-being, according to new research from investment firm Vanguard. Instead, it’s something far more attainable: Socking away at least $2,000 in an emergency savings account. 

People with at least $2,000 saved for an unexpected expense report a greater improvement in financial well-being than those who have incomes of more than $500,000 or assets of more than $1 million, the survey of more than 12,000 Vanguard investors found. 

The findings come as many Americans are feeling more financially stressed, with a separate study from Primerica finding that about half of middle-class households expect to be worse off financially in 2026, almost double the share in December, due to worries about the cost of living and the economy. Taking small steps to build an emergency savings account could prove to help alleviate financial anxiety, noted Paulo Costa, a behavioral economist and certified financial planner at Vanguard who co-authored the research. 

“What’s so powerful about this research is that it’s not about gathering a lot of money to have that peace of mind,” Costa told CBS MoneyWatch. “That initial $2,000 makes a big difference.”

While it may seem that having $1 million in assets should boost financial well-being more than $2,000 in a savings account, the results show the importance of being prepared for an unplanned expense, Costa added. The median cost of an emergency is about $2,000, which means having that cash on hand gives people the confidence that they can handle a sudden money stressor, he said.

“When is $2,000 more than a million dollars? It’s when it comes to emergency savings,” Costa said. “The point of emergency savings is to have that money readily available if you need it. A lot of people have money, for example, in retirement accounts that may have some requirements about when you can withdraw that money and may have some tax consequences and some penalties.”

Retirement assets are generally not readily available to cover unexpected expenses, with people younger than 59 1/2 incurring a 10% penalty for taking out money. But having $2,000 set aside in a bank account means that you’ve got the peace of mind that you’ll be able to handle a surprise car repair or medical bill.

And people with $2,000 in emergency savings typically spend about 2 hours less each week thinking about their finances versus those without any savings, the study found.

How many people can handle emergency expenses?

To be sure, obtaining $2,000 in savings could prove out of reach for many Americans, especially those who are low income, struggling with debt or who reside in an area with a high cost of living. Vanguard’s survey includes only people who have investment accounts at the company, which signals they access to 401(k)s and other types of investment accounts that many Americans lack. 

Almost 4 in 10 Americans say they don’t have the cash on hand to pay for an $400 emergency expense, according to research from the Federal Reserve. 

Still, more Americans appear to be socking away money for a rainy day, with the Primerica study finding that 64% of those surveyed in March said they had an emergency fund of at least $1,000, up from 58% two years earlier. 

Even if saving $2,000 seems out of reach, you can start small by saving as little as $10 week, Costa said. The best idea is to find a strategy that works for you, whether that’s budgeting or automating savings by directing a certain amount into a dedicated account with each paycheck, he said.

“I love the idea of, ‘out of sight, out of mind,’ so when you get paid, you immediately send money to your savings account,” he said. “By saving $50 per week, you will build up to $2,000 in less than a year.”

He added, “Saving something is better than saving nothing. So just getting started, that really makes a big difference.”

Story Continues

Greenville, South Carolina, May 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ARCpoint Inc. (TSXV: ARC) (the “Company” or “ARCpoint”) is pleased to report that it has filed its unaudited Q1, 2025 Financial Statements and related Management Discussion and Analysis as summarized below.

Interim CFO and Director, Adam Ho commented, “In addition to a year over year reduction in overall costs as a result of the CRESSO transaction, we have also recently enacted additional temporary reductions in overall compensation and professional services costs of approximately USD$57k per month. These temporary reductions are a testament to the commitment of our team members in our pursuit of increasing value for our shareholders and other stakeholders.”

Beginning in mid-April of this year, the Company enacted temporary reductions in overall compensation and professional services costs totalling approximately USD$57k on a monthly basis. These temporary reductions represent approximately 40% of total monthly compensation and key, monthly recurring professional services costs. The reductions are temporary and are intended to help the Company manage its finances while it works to increase revenues through the addition of new users of the Company’s MyARCpointLabs (“MAPL”) technology platform.

Mr. Ho added, “Although a reduction in costs is important and we are grateful for the sacrifices our team members are making, we remain focused on adding new users of our MAPL platform and look forward to reporting on our progress in this regard soon”.

On Aug. 20, 2024, the company announced that it had entered into a transaction with Any Lab Test Now (ALTN) to bring together the franchise operations of both Any Lab Test Now and ARCpoint into a new joint venture company, CRESSO Brands LLC. ALTN, based in Atlanta, Ga., was founded in 1992 and at the time of the Aug. 20, 2024, transaction, had more than 235 United States franchise locations, providing direct access to clinical, DNA, and drug and alcohol lab testing services, as well as phlebotomy and other specimen collection services, through its retail storefront business model. When combined with the more than 135 ARCpoint franchise group locations, also at the time of the transaction, CRESSO is now the largest franchise network of its kind in the United States. At the time of the CRESSO transaction, ALTN and ARCpoint also agreed to make ARCpoint’s MyARCpointLabs technology platform (MAPL) the systems choice for CRESSO brand franchisees. Given that the Company now holds a 29.5% interest in the CRESSO, ARCpoint’s interest is accounted for using the equity method. As a result, revenues and costs previously attributable to the Company’s franchise operations, are no longer consolidated into the ARCpoint’s financial statements.

All results below are reported under International Financial Reporting Standards and in US dollars. The Company reminds readers to take into consideration that the CRESSO transaction was concluded in the third quarter of 2024 on August 20, 2024. For accounting purposes, the Company has deconsolidated ARCpoint Franchise Group and recorded its 29.5% interest in CRESSO as an equity investment going forward. The Company advises readers to see its unaudited interim Financial Statements (the “Financial Statements”) and the interim Management Discussion & Analysis of the Company (MD&A”) under the Company’s profile at www.sedarplus.ca.

On January 3, 2025, the Company completed the sale of its 68% share ownership interest in ABH Greenville, as originally announced on December 30, 2024. In exchange for its ownership interest in ABH Greenville, the Company received a cash consideration of $360,000.

As at March 31, 2025, the Company had total cash on hand of approximately US$0.23 million.

All results below are reported under International Financial Reporting Standards and in US dollars.

Summary of 2025 Q1 Financial Results

• Total revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2025 were $0.18 million compared to $1.61 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024. The decrease in revenue was primarily due to decreased royalty and franchising revenues as no royalties and brand fund revenues were included after the CRESSO joint venture transaction (“CRESSO Transaction”) on August 20, 2024.

• Net loss for the three months ended March 31, 2025 was $0.62 million compared to a net loss of $1.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024. The decrease in net loss was primarily due to a decrease in cost of revenue of $0.6 million, a decrease in salary and wages of $0.7 million, a decrease in general and administrative expenses of $0.1 million and a decrease in sales and marketing costs of $0.1 million, partially offset by a gain in the disposal of ABH Greenville of $0.3 million and a gain in the share of income of CRESSO of $0.2 million.

• Operating cash flow for the three months ended March 31, 2025 was negative $0.9 million compared to negative $1.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024.

• EBITDA for the three months ended March 31, 2025, was negative $0.4 million compared to negative $1.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024.

• Adjusted EBITDA for the three months ended March 31, 2025, was negative $0.6 million compared to negative $1.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024.

DEFINITION AND RECONCILIATION OF NON-IFRS FINANCIAL MEASURES

The Company reports certain non-IFRS measures that are used to evaluate the performance of its businesses and the performance of their respective segments. Securities regulators require such measures to be clearly defined and reconciled with their most comparable IFRS measures.

As non-IFRS measures generally do not have a standardized meaning, they may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. Rather, these are provided as additional information to complement those IFRS measures by providing further understanding of the results of the operations of the Company from management’s perspective. Accordingly, these measures should not be considered in isolation, nor as a substitute for analysis of the Company’s financial information reported under IFRS. Non-IFRS measures used to analyze the performance of the Company’s businesses include “EBITDA” and “Adjusted EBITDA”.

The Company believes that these non-IFRS financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding the Company’s performances and may be useful to investors because they allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision-making. These financial measures are intended to provide investors with supplemental measures of the Company’s operating performances and thus highlight trends in the Company’s core businesses that may not otherwise be apparent when solely relying on the IFRS measures. These non-IFRS measures are calculated as follows:

“EBITDA” is comprised as income (loss) less interest, income tax and depreciation and amortization. Management believes that EBITDA is a useful indicator for investors, and is used by management, in evaluating the operating performance of the Company. See “Consolidated EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Reconciliation” appended to this press release for a quantitative reconciliation of EBITDA to the most directly comparable financial measure.

“Adjusted EBITDA” is comprised as income (loss) less interest, income tax, depreciation, amortization, share-based compensation, Brand Fund revenue and expense timing difference, change in fair value of warrant liability, foreign exchange gain (loss) and other income / expenses not attributable to the operations of the Company. Management believes that EBITDA is a useful indicator for investors, and is used by management, in evaluating the operating performance of the Company. See “Consolidated EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Reconciliation” appended to this press release for a quantitative reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to the most directly comparable financial measure.

A reconciliation of how the Company calculates EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA is provide in the table appended to this press release.

For more information, please see the unaudited interim Financial Statements (the “Financial Statements”) and the interim Management Discussion & Analysis of the Company (MD&A”) under the Company’s profile at www.sedarplus.ca.

About ARCpoint Inc.

ARCpoint is a leading US-based health care company that leverages technology along with brick-and-mortar locations to give businesses and individual consumers access to convenient, cost-effective healthcare information and solutions with transparent, up-front pricing, so that they can be proactive and preventative with their health and well-being. ARCpoint is based in Greenville, South Carolina, USA. ARCpoint Corporate Labs LLC develops corporate-owned labs committed to providing accurate, cost-effective solutions for customers, businesses and physicians. AFG Services LLC serves as the innovation center of the ARCpoint group of companies as it builds a proprietary technology platform and a physician network to equip all ARCpoint labs with best-in-class tools and solutions to better serve their customers. The platform also digitalizes and streamlines administrative functions such as materials purchasing, compliance, billing and physician services for ARCpoint franchise labs and other clients.

For more information, please contact:

ARCpoint Inc.
Adam Ho, Interim Chief Financial Officer
Phone : (604) 329-1009
E-mail : invest@arcpointlabs.com

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION :

Forward-Looking Information – this news release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws which are based on ARCpoint’s current internal expectations, estimates, projections, assumptions and beliefs and views of future events. Forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “expect”, “likely”, “may”, “will”, “should”, “intend”, “anticipate”, “potential”, “proposed”, “estimate” and other similar words, including negative and grammatical variations thereof, or statements that certain events or conditions “may”, “would” or “will” happen, or by discussions of strategy.

The forward-looking information in this news release is based upon the expectations, estimates, projections, assumptions and views of future events which management believes to be reasonable in the circumstances. Forward-looking information includes estimates, plans, expectations, opinions, forecasts, projections, targets, guidance or other statements that are not statements of fact. Froward-looking information necessarily involve known and unknown risks, including, without limitation, risks associated with general economic conditions; adverse industry events; loss of markets; future legislative and regulatory developments; inability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources, and/or inability to access sufficient capital on favourable terms; the ability of the Company to implement its business strategies, the COVID-19 pandemic; competition and other risks.

Any forward-looking information speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and except as required by law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for the Company to predict all such factors. When considering the forward-looking information contained herein, readers should keep in mind the risk factors and other cautionary statements in the Company’s disclosure documents filed with the applicable Canadian securities regulatory authorities on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The risk factors and other factors noted in the disclosure documents could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those described in any forward-looking information.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this Press release.

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ARCpoint Inc.
Consolidated EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Reconciliation
(Expressed in United States Dollars)

1. Finance expense comprised of interest on bank loans, notes payable and lease liabilities (see Financial Statements).

2. Share-based compensation expense comprised of non-cash compensation (see Financial Statements).

3. See ‘Cresso Transaction’ section of this MD&A for further details.

4. Previous to the ‘Cresso Transaction’ on August 20, 2024, the Group operated a Brand Fund to collect and administer funds contributed for use in advertising and promotional programs designed to increase sales and enhance the reputation of the Group and its franchisees. The Group reported contributions and expenditures on a gross basis on the Group’s statement of profit and loss. Brand Fund contributions are recognized as revenue when invoiced, as the Group has full discretion on how and when the Brand Fund revenues are spent. Brand Fund revenue received may not equal advertising expenditures for the period due to timing of promotions and this difference is recognized to earnings. This adjustment is made to normalize for the timing difference of the Brand Fund revenues and Brand Fund expenditures.