Aside from the occasional breeze through your bank statements and a quick peek at your credit score, how much time do you spend on your finances? 🕓🤔 Are you a budgeting bada$$ or do you run your money off crossed fingers and good vibes? 🪄
We all feel better when our money's in order, right? Well, according to the research, we might need to spend a little more time on financial planning. 💸
Here’s Five Fast Facts on how much time Americans spend on their finances:
- ⏰ Time After Time - According to research from the Motley Fool, Americans aren't spending that much time on financial planning. Back in 2003, 4.5% of Americans said they did some kind of financial planning on an average day. However, in 2022, that number dropped to 3%. Additionally, women and older Americans were more likely to dabble in financial planning than men and the younger generations.
- 🔥 Putting Out Fires - Americans who do engage in financial planning say they spend about 54 minutes a day on money management per year. Remember, that's only like 3% of Americans (LOL). In a Motley Fool survey, one out of every four Americans said they only engage in financial planning activities in a crisis, like a loss of income or unexpected expense.
- 👴🏽 Older and Wiser - The older you get, the more time you'll probably spend on your finances. Why? Well, you'll likely have more financial responsibilities, accounts to manage, and bills piling up. Only 0.2% of Americans between the ages of 15 and 24 spend a part of their day looking at their finances compared to 5.8% of people 65 and up.
- 📉 Dude, Where's My Money? - The Motley Fool reported that the median savings account balance in 2023 was $1,200. That's down significantly from 2022 when it was $4,500. Another noteworthy stat: according to Federal Reserve data, 54% of Americans have three months of emergency savings, down from 59%.
- ☹️ Could Be Better - Just how bad are we feeling about money? The Fed also reported that, in 2022, 35% of Americans said they were doing worse off than they were in 2021. That's the highest it's been since 2014.
🔥Bottom line: If you don't have a lot of time to spend on financial planning, that doesn't mean you should ignore it completely. Did you know there are a bunch of lazy ways to manage your money? Yup, there sure are. In fact, we have an article all about it. You're welcome.
How much time do you spend on your finances?
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