More Than 1 in 3 American's Claim Their Top Financial Priority is Managing Bills
Financial Security Index is at its highest level since June 2015
Financial Security Index is at its highest level since June 2015
NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Staying current or getting caught up on bills remains Americans' top financial priority, according to a new Bankrate.com (NYSE: RATE) report. For the 4th consecutive year, staying current on living expenses or getting caught up on the bills is the runaway winner among Americans' highest financial priorities (38%). Paying down debt runs a distant second (21%), followed by saving (18%).
"As Americans await the appearance of sustained income growth, the top priority of staying current or getting caught up on bills is testament to the tightness of household budgets," said Greg McBride, CFA, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com.
Managing invoices is important to respondents of all ages. In fact, staying current or getting caught up on bills was the top financial priority of every age group and all income groups, with the exception of those making $75K or more. For the highest income households, paying down debt (30%) and saving (26%) ranked higher than staying current on bills (22%). Among Millennials, saving ranked a close second among top financial priorities.
The Financial Security Index rebounded to 103.4, the highest level since June. In what may prove to be a turning point, Americans' comfort level with savings reached a breakeven point for the first time, snapping the streak of downbeat readings that had prevailed every month since the poll debuted in Dec. 2010.
The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International (PRSAI) and can be seen in its entirety here:
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/consumer-index/americans-financial-focus-paying-debt-not-saving.aspx
Methodology
PSRAI obtained telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,000 adults living in the continental United States. Interviews were conducted by landline (500) and cell phone (500, including 276 without a landline phone) in English and Spanish by Princeton Data Source from November 5 to 8, 2015. Statistical results are weighted to correct known demographic discrepancies. The margin of sampling error for the complete set of weighted data is ± 3.8 percentage points.
About Bankrate, Inc.
Bankrate is a leading publisher, aggregator, and distributor of personal finance content on the Internet. Bankrate provides consumers with proprietary, fully researched, comprehensive, independent and objective personal finance editorial content across multiple vertical categories including mortgages, deposits, insurance, credit cards, and other categories, such as retirement, automobile loans, and taxes. The Bankrate network includes Bankrate.com, CreditCards.com, InsuranceQuotes.com and Caring.com, our flagship websites, and other owned and operated personal finance websites, including Interest.com, Bankaholic.com, Mortgage-calc.com, CreditCardGuide.com, CarInsuranceQuotes.com, Insweb.com, CreditCards.ca, and NetQuote.com. Bankrate aggregates rate information from over 4,800 institutions on more than 300 financial products. With coverage of over 600 local markets, Bankrate generates rate tables in all 50 U.S. states. Bankrate develops and provides web services to over 100 co-branded websites with online partners, including some of the most trusted and frequently visited personal finance sites on the Internet such as Yahoo!, CNBC, and Bloomberg. In addition, Bankrate licenses editorial content to over 500 newspapers on a daily basis including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Boston Globe.
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SOURCE Bankrate, Inc.
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