Bank of America/USA TODAY Better Money Habits
Millennial Report Finds Financial Stress Impacts Emotional and
Physical Well-Being
A new Bank of America/USA TODAY Better Money Habits Millennial
Report released today finds that while 84 percent of millennials
are confident in their ability to manage their finances, 41 percent
are “chronically stressed” about money. Furthermore, money stress
tends to permeate all areas of their lives:
- Sixty-five percent report that anxiety
about money affects their emotional well-being.
- Nearly half (49 percent) say it affects
their personal relationships.
- More than half (55 percent) say their
leisure activities/interests are impacted.
- Money stress also affects physical
health (42 percent) and work performance (22 percent).
Only one-third (34 percent) of millennials feel “content” about
their finances, while many are “anxious” (27 percent) and
“overwhelmed” (22 percent). Still, despite these negative emotions,
millennials haven’t necessarily lost confidence in their ability to
manage money and say they feel confident because they know how to
budget and manage their finances, have good spending habits and
have savings.
Financial fitness seems to be a priority for this generation,
even as much as physical fitness. Millennials spend the same amount
of time tending to personal finance as they do working out: Roughly
two in five spend an average of three hours per week both
exercising and working on their finances. However, they aren’t
equally satisfied with the payoff: Many more report being satisfied
with their physical fitness than with their financial fitness (61
percent vs. 40 percent).
“Even though millennials are confident about money and focused
on their finances, they’re still experiencing a great deal of
stress. That’s due in part to factors out of their control – a
volatile global economy, a changing job market and, to some extent,
the student debt they’ve taken on,” said Andrew Plepler, Global
Corporate Social Responsibility executive, Bank of America. “Amid
the uncertainty, it’s important to focus on things they can
control, such as their level of financial knowledge and awareness.
This survey indicates there may be room for more effective
financial management efforts that make it easier for millennials to
take greater control of their finances, and hopefully alleviate
some of the stress they feel.”
The learning gap is apparent. While only 17 percent feel they
have a great deal of experience or knowledge in personal finance,
many more say they feel experienced in other, more fun topics:
- Thirty-four percent feel they have
expertise in social media.
- Thirty-three percent feel very
knowledgeable about food/dining out.
- Twenty-three percent feel they have
expertise in health and wellness.
“The survey’s findings give relevant insight into how
millennials feel when it comes to managing their finances. While
they are increasingly confident, they are still faced with complex
financial decisions that they are proactively learning to
navigate,” said Dave Callaway, editor in chief of USA TODAY. “The
results make it clear that financial health is a fundamental issue
and area of concern for millennials. We hope to educate and shine a
light on this important topic through our partnership with Bank of
America on this research.”
Additional report findings:
Millennials worry about cost of living, ability to
save
- Cost of living is a concern for a
majority (61 percent) of millennials, and 58 percent are concerned
about their ability to save while they live where they do.
- While cost of living tops the list of
concerns millennials have about where they live, only 28 percent
said financial reasons were a motivating factor in choosing where
to live.
- Being close to family (42 percent) and
career opportunities (41 percent) trump other factors driving
millennial decisions on where to live.
- Living near family is especially important
for rural millennials (54 percent) vs. suburban (39 percent) and
urban (40 percent).
- Women are more likely than men to
determine where they live based on a relationship, partner or
spouse (27 percent vs. 22 percent).
Women prioritize financial future more than men – but feel
more stress
- Women and men feel equally confident
about managing their personal finances; however, women tend to be
more stressed when it comes to spending more than they should (34
percent vs. 26 percent), facing adulthood (34 percent vs. 23
percent) and carrying student loan debt (31 percent vs. 22
percent).
- Men feel more stressed than women about
having enough money to someday have a family (25 percent vs. 19
percent).
- Women are more likely than men to
prioritize being debt-free (70 percent vs. 58 percent), having a
savings account (63 percent vs. 47 percent) and setting financial
goals (52 percent vs. 40 percent).
Bank of America wants to help all young adults looking to boost
their financial wellness with its free online financial education
resource BetterMoneyHabits.com, powered in partnership with
education innovator Khan Academy. Inspired by Khan Academy’s modern
approach to learning, the platform provides engaging and
easy-to-understand content on a wide range of personal finance
topics. In addition to content geared toward millennials, as well
as parents, new material is launching on the website this fall
offering tailored advice to those living paycheck to paycheck.
This is the third poll of millennials by Bank of America Better
Money Habits and USA TODAY. The full report can be found at
www.bettermoneyhabits.com/reports.
About the Bank of America/USA TODAY Better Money Habits
Millennial ReportIn follow-up research to November 2014 and April
2015 reports on millennials’ financial habits, Bank of America and
USA TODAY commissioned a survey of 1,320 millennials to explore
millennials’ challenges, behaviors and attitudes related to
achieving financial wellness. The survey was conducted online
during the period of August 6–24, 2015 by GfK Public Affairs and
Corporate Communication, using GfK’s KnowledgePanel®, a
statistically representative sample source used to yield results
that are projectable to the American population. To qualify,
millennial respondents had to be 18 to 34 years old. The margin of
sampling error for national data is +/- 3.2 percentage points at
the 95 percent confidence level. Margin of error for the Chicago,
Houston, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C. DMA oversamples
is slightly higher.
About Better Money HabitsBank of America has made a substantial
commitment to address the need for better financial literacy by
partnering with Khan Academy – a nonprofit with the mission of
providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.
Through this partnership, Better Money Habits has tapped into a
different way to help people learn about money. It's about creating
a customizable experience that breaks down concepts and provides
practical, actionable steps to strengthen the connection between
financial knowledge and behavior. Since the site launched in 2013,
we’ve connected millions of people to information to help them make
more confident financial decisions. To learn more, visit
BetterMoneyHabits.com.
About Bank of AmericaBank of America is one of the world's
leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small
and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full
range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial
and risk management products and services. The company provides
unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately
48 million consumer and small business relationships with
approximately 4,800 retail financial centers, approximately 16,000
ATMs, and award-winning online banking with 31 million active users
and approximately 18 million mobile users. Bank of America is among
the world's leading wealth management companies and is a global
leader in corporate and investment banking and trading across a
broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments,
institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America
offers industry-leading support to approximately 3 million small
business owners through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online
products and services. The company serves clients through
operations in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S.
Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and more than 35 countries. Bank of
America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York
Stock Exchange.
About USA TODAYFounded in 1982, USA TODAY delivers high-quality,
engaging content through unique visual storytelling across all
platforms. An innovator of news and information, USA TODAY reflects
the pulse of the nation and serves as the host of the American
conversation — today, tomorrow, and for decades to follow. USA
TODAY is the nation’s number one newspaper. USA TODAY's award
winning news site reaches more than 50M unique visitors a month
across its digital platforms with more than 20M application
downloads. USA TODAY is owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI).
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