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June 26, 2015 at 01:25 PM
If you doubted all those rosy reports about how the economy is getting better, you’re smart. Americans are having to postpone lots of life’s important milestones, retirement included, because of lack of money—and the number is growing.
More than half of Americans (51 percent) have stalled on at least one major life decision in the last year because of financial reasons, according to a Harris Poll survey from the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). The bad news is that’s 20 percent higher than it was in 2007 when a similar poll was taken.
Read: Will tax breaks incentivize retirement saving?
In addition, the rates of postponement for some of these goals have more than doubled since 2007. For instance, take retirement (or don’t, which is the case for many): 18 percent of Americans are putting it off, compared with 9 percent in 2007.
Then there’s marriage—postponed now by 12 percent, compared with 2007’s 6 percent, and having children—postponed by 13 percent, while in 2007 just 5 percent were stalling. Of course, stalling on having kids could have something to do with the fact that 22 percent are delaying buying a home, while in 2007 14 percent were putting it off.
