Inflation worries remain across income brackets, but politics is top concern for affluent: Edelman
The current political climate is the top concern for the wealthiest Americans heading into 2024
The Lonski Group founder John Lonski, UBS Wealth Management Senior Vice President Brenda O’Connor Juanas and University of Akron Endowment Fund Chairman Dennis Gartman discuss their outlooks for the 2024 economy on ‘Mornings with Maria.’
Inflation remains a concern for Americans of all income levels as high prices continue to weigh on consumers, but the biggest worry among the upper-middle class right now involves politics.
Edelman Financial Engines' recently released 2023 report on Everyday Wealth in America found inflation is the top concern for Americans overall, with 84% citing it as the No. 1 thing keeping them up at night, and 46% said money issues are their leading cause of stress.
Former President Donald Trump, left, and President Biden are currently the frontrunners for their respective parties' nomination for president in 2024. (Getty Images/Photo illustration / Fox News)
But of the most affluent of respondents, defined in this study as those with household assets between $500,000 to $3 million, 90% said the current political environment in the U.S. is their greatest worry, with the 2024 election coming in at No. 3 (81%) on their list of concerns.
Thirty-one percent of Americans overall viewed politics as their biggest source of stress, compared to 47% of affluent respondents.
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The study found credit card debt impacted Americans in a notable way in 2023, when credit card debt reached record highs upwards of $1.08 trillion.
About one third of Americans say they are uncomfortable with the amount of debt they racked up this year. (Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Thirty-nine percent of Americans across all wealth brackets, and 32% of the affluent, identified credit card debt as the biggest obstacle to their ability to build wealth. Roughly a third of all respondents reported feeling uncomfortable with the amount of debt their household accumulated this year, and 24% of the affluent said they feel emotionally burdened with what they put on credit.
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Edelman reported the housing market was also a significant source of financial stress in 2023, with 45% of Americans and 37% of the affluent who were in the potential market to buy a home were discouraged from doing so.
High home prices and elevated interest rates have led to a housing affordability crisis in the U.S. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
According to the data, recession fears have cooled some from last year, with 78% naming it as a top concern, down from 86% in 2022.
"Our research shows how the market volatility over the past two years has taken a financial and emotional toll on individuals and families regardless of wealth," said Kelly O’Donnell, Chief Client Officer at Edelman Financial Engines.
"We’re seeing how it impacts the big financial moments in life, like deciding when to purchase a home or how to retire, as well as our everyday moments, like buying groceries for our families and filling up the car," O'Donnell continued.
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"We are all influenced by the larger economic forces around us, as well as the realities of our own individual relationships. Together, these factors all connect to our financial lives and how we perceive what it means to feel wealthy."