When it comes to financial stress, most Americans are concerned about putting food on their tables and being able to enjoy a comfortable retirement.
According to a new Quinnipiac University poll that queried nearly 1,800 adults, food costs were identified as the greatest current financial concern by 22% of respondents, followed by retirement savings (18%), health care costs (17%), mortgage or rent payments (13%), college tuition (8%), energy bills (7%), credit card or loan payments (5%) and loss of a job (4%).
However, financial concerns varied among different age demographics: 18 to 34 year olds cited mortgage or rent payments as their top worry (23%), while 35 to 49 year olds cited food costs (24%) and those 50 and older focused on retirement savings (25%).
Efforts to save money by delaying or jettisoning planned purchases and activities have dominated American spending habits, with most survey respondents acknowledging they have cut back on dining out (63%), going out to entertainment or sports events (62%), vacation planning (61%), clothes shopping (61%), consumer electronics (52%) and home improvement projects (52%).
And many respondents have decided to delay pursuing life-changing endeavors such as buying a vehicle (31%), buying a home (27%), receiving medical treatment (19%), having children (13%) and getting married (11%). But 35% of Americans said they have not had to delay any of these things.
When asked how difficult it would be to pay an unexpected bill of $1,000 right away, slightly more than half of respondents (52%) said it would be either very difficult (25%) or somewhat difficult (27%), while 47% say it would be not so difficult (20%) or not difficult at all (27%). Roughly four in 10 respondents (42%) said they have less in savings compared to a year ago and 27% said they have more debt compared to a year ago.
