After a dozen years of a steady climb, there has been a sharp drop in people’s ability to make ends meet and save for emergencies.

The decrease is substantial, according to the FINRA Investor Education Foundation’s new National Financial Capability Study.

“We’re seeing a 10 percentage point decrease in the proportion of adults saying that they find it easy to cover their expenses, to pay their bills, from our last survey data published three years ago,” Olivia Valdes, FINRA’s senior researcher, told Yahoo Finance.

More Americans report spending more than their income, and only a quarter report being satisfied with their current personal financial condition, down from about a third previously.

A growing number of folks are also feeling anxious about their finances, Valdes said.

“It’s similar when we talk about spending versus saving. More than ever, adults in our data are outspending their income,” she said.

According to the data, 26 million more people are struggling to make ends meet than three years ago, and that’s across all income bands.

Not surprisingly, only 46% of adults have set aside enough money to cover three months’ worth of living expenses in case of an emergency, down from 53%.

Rise in credit card debt is a factor

The number of people who always pay their credit cards in full each month (53%) has slipped by six percentage points, ending the steady increase seen over the previous 15 years. Credit card debt has jumped to nearly 4 in 10 users, from 33% three years ago.

Troubling, too, is that nearly half of credit card holders engage in at least one behavior likely to generate hefty interest or fees, such as paying the minimum due, paying late fees, paying over-the-limit fees, or using the card for cash advances.

The drivers — rising food and housing costs.

Read more: The best ways to pay off credit card debt

Brimming with confidence

Equally eye-opening from the study is the share of Americans who are bright-eyed about their future finances.

Seven in 10 Americans said, “I’m confident that I can meet my financial goals.”

Delusional? It looks that way when you dig deeper. Nearly 6 in 10 adults have never calculated how much money they need to save for retirement, according to the data.

“Many Americans may not be planning for retirement for several reasons — younger adults might view retirement as too distant to focus on immediately,” Valdes said. Only 30% of people ages 18-34 have calculated their retirement needs, compared to 48% of those 55 and older.

There are also sharp differences by household income. Only a fraction — 17% — of those with incomes under $25,000 have tried to plan for retirement, compared to nearly 6 in 10 of those earning $75,000 or more.