Infographic: Bad financial habits Americans most want to break

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Summary

Saving more and paying down credit card debt are among the more popular New Year’s resolutions of 2016

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In contemplating the new year, about 4 in 10 Americans expect to make and actually keep a resolution of managing their money better in 2016, ranking almost equally with those who expect to make and keep diet and exercise goals (43 percent), according to a survey by Allianz Life.

To boost their financial health in the new year, respondents identified saving for emergencies as the top improvement they could make (21 percent), followed by paying off credit card debt (17 percent) and making a budget (11 percent).

When asked what detrimental financial habits they’d most like to overcome, the top two targets were spending too much on unneeded things (29 percent) and not saving as much as they could (28 percent).

Almost a third of respondents aren’t including financial planning in their 2016 goals because they feel they “don’t make enough money to worry about it.” Yet if offered free professional guidance to help with one of their resolutions, the top pick was a financial professional (37 percent), beating out nutritionists and dieticians at 28 percent and personal trainers at 23 percent.

Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America’s Seventh annual New Year’s Resolution Survey was conducted in November 2015 by Ipsos eNation U.S. Omnibus, with 1,006 respondents chosen randomly from an online panel of 500,000 U.S. adults. Released Dec. 15, the results were weighted to reflect the demographic composition of the U.S. as a whole.

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The editorial content on this page is based solely on the objective assessment of our writers and is not driven by advertising dollars. It has not been provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. However, we may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners.

Sabrina Karl loves telling – and especially showing – stories that are conveyed with numbers. Whether it’s data on the nation’s credit card debt or the financial struggles faced by seniors, millennials, or anyone in between, Karl combines an analytical mindset with serious Excel chops and a dash of graphic design to create infographic stories for CreditCards.com, and previously for Bankrate.com, Interest.com and DepositAccounts.com.

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Infographic: Bad financial habits Americans most want to break

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