Despite the fact that an Allianz Life survey of more than 1,000 people in November found that getting in shape is a bigger priority than improving finances for most people, 4 in 10 said they aimed to manage their money better in 2015. About a quarter of respondents said they were more likely to get help from a financial professional in the coming year. Paying off credit card debt, building up emergency savings and increasing retirement savings were also among the common goals cited.
The relative health of the economy compared to a year ago seems to have alleviated some of the pressure Americans feel to set financial goals. A recent survey of more than 2,000 adults by Fidelity found a decline in interest in setting money-related financial resolutions for the new year. Just 31 percent of respondents said they were making a financial resolution, compared to 43 percent in 2014. The most popular financial goals included saving more (55 percent), paying off debt (20 percent) and spending less (17 percent).
The Fidelity survey also found a correlation between expressing a financial goal and improving one’s financial life: About half of those who made a money resolution last year said they are now “better off financially," compared to just 38 percent of those who didn’t set one.
According to Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, president of the Charles Schwab Foundation, one of the biggest barriers to meeting financial goals is that people just don’t know how to get started. In Charles Schwab’s Fall Financial Pulse survey of 1,466 adults ages 25 to 65, more than half said they “don’t feel they are on top of their finances,” and 27 percent said they “don’t know where to start and need more education or information.” In addition, 15 percent said they didn’t want to deal with their finances because it’s “too overwhelming.”
If you fall into that category, then you might also want to consider the research of Christine Whelan, a faculty associate in the Department of Consumer Science at the University of Wisconsin--Madison and self-improvement expert. She developed two self-improvement programs for AARP’s Life Reimagined website that help people prioritize their goals and define the next steps for achieving them.
Her research has also found the importance of not just setting a resolution, but making sure the goals you set resonate with your values and priorities, and not outside influences. Meeting those goals also requires high levels of self-control, which gets stronger with practice, she says.
Time to set some financial goals for the new year and develop a plan of action to achieve them. A small bit of forward progress goes a LONG way in a year.
