53% of consumers planning on New Year's resolutions intend to set financially-focused ones: survey
Financial goals included saving more money and curbing spending
Laffer Tengler Investments President Arthur Laffer Jr. discusses the impact of inflation on the markets, the Fed's handling of interest rates and China's economy following the rollback of 'zero-COVID' restrictions.
Many Americans planning to set goals for the new year intend to make financially-focused ones, according to a recent Numerator survey.
The survey, released Wednesday, found 50% of consumers say they intend to create resolutions for the coming year. Of those who plan to do so, 53% indicated their focus would be financial, marking a 6% increase year-over-year, according to Numerator.
For those setting financial goals, saving more money overall was most commonly cited at 57%. That was followed by 48% saying they wanted to be more diligent about tracking their spending and 43% aiming to curb their spending on the whole, the survey found.
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Other popular financial goals included:
- Reducing spending on non-essential items: 42%
- Paying off loans: 40%
Inflation prompted more than half the respondents to set money-focused goals, the survey found. The possibility of the economy falling into a recession also motivated consumers’ prioritizing finances, with 48% pointing to that concern.
While inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index did cool somewhat in November, it remains hovering around painfully high levels, as earlier reported by FOX Business. In November, it went up 0.1% from the prior month and 7.1% year-over-year.
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Americans are also concerned the Federal Reserve could potentially trigger a recession with its interest rate hikes. In 2022, the central bank came out with four back-to-back 75-basis point rate hikes and most recently, a 50 basis point lift.
Nonetheless, the survey found 84% of consumers said achieving their financially-focused resolutions for the new year was "likely" or "very likely," according to Numerator.
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Health and fitness
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While money-related resolutions saw gains compared to the prior year, goals for 2023 related to physical health remained most popular.
Among consumers intending to make resolutions, nearly three-quarters (73%) said they intended to make ones "focused on fitness, weight loss and healthy eating," Numerator said. That percentage, however, marks a 3-point drop year-over-year.
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Other popular themes for resolutions among consumers surveyed by Numerator included:
- Mental health: 40%
- Productivity or organization: 33%
- Relationships: 30%
- Hobbies: 28%
- Career or education: 23%
The survey involved over 1,000 consumers and was conducted between Dec. 13 and Dec. 20.
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