Bad Personal Financial Habits Mirror U.S. Government's: Allianz Life Survey

Unemployment and Fiscal Cliff Concerns

Although unemployment was identified as the most worrisome economic event of 2012, it was actually down four percentage points from 2011 when nearly half of the respondents (48%) said it was their top concern. The 31% of people that said they were most worried about the impending fiscal cliff were eight percentage points higher than those who chose “U.S. budget fiasco” as their biggest worry from last year. Other economic events that respondents identified as “most worrisome” included:

• Home prices/sales: 11%, down from 15% in 2011
• Volatile stock market: 9%, down from 10% in 2011
• European debt crisis: 4%, down from 5 % in 2011

Bad Financial Habits

What were Americans’ worst financial habits of 2012? As noted above, 30 percent of Americans surveyed said they are guilty of “not saving any money,” but the same percentage indicated they “spend too much money on things I don’t need.” This was followed by those who admit they:

• Save some money, but not as much as I could–24%
• Don’t have a household budget–18%
• Spend more than I make–18%
• Don’t educate myself about financial planning–15%
• Pay bills late–12%
• Only make the minimum payment on credit cards–10%
• Play the lottery/gamble–9%
• Don’t seek professional help with my finances–9%
• Don’t contribute to my employer-sponsored retirement plan–5%

Few respondents (3%) reported that their worst financial habit was “contributing to my employer-sponsored retirement plan, but not taking full advantage of my employer match.” Nearly a quarter, 24%, of respondents said they are not guilty of any of the bad habits presented to them.