Allianz survey: Americans making the same financial mistakes as their government

December 13, 2012 at 09:55 AM
Share & Print

In what appears to be a hypocritical sentiment not uncommon for the majority of humanity, Americans, while railing at their government for its lack of financial sensibility, are falling victim to the same bad practices that they publicly and vocally oppose.

According to the 2012 Bad Financial Habits Survey from Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, 44 percent of Americans said that unemployment was their top economic concern of 2012 while 31 percent said that the impending fiscal cliff was their top concern. And when queried about their worst financial habits, 30 percent said that they were not saving enough money and another 18 percent said that they were spending more than they make. Americans are suffering from the same financial mistakes that have endangered their government.

The disconnect between how Americans want their government to treat its finances and how they treat their own is glaring. However, it should be noted that not all American households have the financial acumen that the government has although party infighting that can hinder the fiscal health of the government can happen on a smaller scale within families.

Although Americans identified unemployment as the most worrisome economic event in 2012, it was down four percentage points from 2011.

The survey also found that eleven percent of Americans were concerned about their home prices; nine percent were concerned about a volatile stock market and four percent were concerned about the European debt crisis.

It should be noted that three percent of respondents said that their worst financial habit was "contributing to employer-sponsored retirement plan, but not taking full advantage of my employer match."

NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Related Stories

Resource Center