I find it hard to believe that a majority of respondents could survive between 1 and 5 years. CNN has an article about how 76% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Is HN over-repesented in the 24%? (even that remaining 24% might have only two paychecks saved up, so it's still not even close)
Very likely. Or at least, people on HN who answered this poll. HN is not a cross-section of American society; HN is a cross-section of hackers, coders, developers, intellectuals, and people with serious curiosity. HN polls also show a median salary approaching 6 figures, which is not normal for the US as a whole. I would not expect HN finances to look like average US finances.
We certainly have people here living paycheck to paycheck, and even some homeless, but HN is not usually a favorite site among those demographics.
http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/24/pf/emergency-savings/