Once the economy returns to health, Americans begin to focus less on their wallets and more on their own health.
That’s the strong indication from Allianz Life’s annual New Year’s Resolution survey that gathered data from more than 1,000 online respondents.
The survey asked respondents to list their 2016 priorities. Health and wellness far outscored financial stability, 44 percent to 29 percent. Trailing far behind were career/employment (13 percent), education (9 percent) and entertainment/leisure (5 percent).
But when asked which resolution’s they thought they’d actually stick with, responses shifted: “Forty-three percent of those surveyed said they are most likely to make and keep their resolution of diet/exercise and 41 percent resolve to manage money better,” the survey reported.
One gray lining to the otherwise upbeat survey results: A third of respondents excluded financial planning from among their resolutions because they “don’t make enough money to worry about it.”
Another interesting sidelight of the survey: While health/wellness outranked financial stability as a goal, fewer would seek professional guidance to meet health goals than financial goals. And respondents also seem to have a good handle on what it takes to get themselves more financially stable, as they listed building their savings for emergencies, paying off credit card debt and making a budget as their top three financial repair priorities.
Asked to list their top financial bad habits, here’s what they said:
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Spending too much money on things “I don’t need” (29 percent)
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Saving some money, “but not as much as I could” (28 percent)
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Not saving any money (26 percent)
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Spending “more than I make” (19 percent)
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
