According to the Northwestern Mutual Planning and Progress Study on financial well-being, Americans have several worries. Based on interviews with 2,646 adults, 85 percent of respondents reported financial anxiety in some form. Approximately two-thirds of those surveyed indicated that financial anxiety negatively affected their health. In addition, 36 percent of those responding had increasing levels of financial anxiety over the past three years.
In the study, the greatest financial fears were:
- Having an unplanned emergency
- Having unplanned medical expenses
- Having insufficient savings for retirement
- Outliving retirement savings
- Becoming a financial burden
- Not able to afford healthcare
- Loss of a job
- Identity theft
- Extended unemployment
- Death/loss of primary wage earner
- Having poor credit
- Having to file bankruptcy
- Being a victim of a financial scam
To address these concerns, the study recommends the following actions:
- build an emergency fund for unplanned expenses
- invest properly for retirement and long-term financial security
- review your finances regularly to revise goals and savings activities
These actions can help to reduce the financial anxiety reported by a large portion of Americans.
For additional information on financial anxiety, go to:
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