With personal debt continuing to mount, Americans are feeling even less secure about their finances this month and struggling to find funds to cover expenses. A new study released by Bankrate, Inc. shows that that 19% of Americans have admitted to tapping into retirement funds over the past 12 months to cover emergencies.

Among the findings:

- One in three Americans (33%) says their overall financial situation is worse than 12 months ago.

- Feelings of financial security among Americans, as measured by the Financial Security Index, sank to a new low of 93.5, down from 97.0 in March and below the previous low of 94.6 in December.

- The percentage of Americans who are more comfortable with their debt has fallen 3 months in a row (Jan: 27%, Feb: 26%, Mar: 24%, April: 18%).

- Seven percent of Americans admit to not having any retirement savings.

"Raiding the retirement account prematurely depletes the nest egg, subjects the individual to taxes and penalties, and deals a permanent setback to retirement security because you can never go back and make up for those early withdrawals," said Greg McBride, CFA, senior financial analyst for Bankrate.com.