In 2020, Americans have experienced pandemic, presidential elections, and many natural disasters
COVID-19 and elections: Americans unveil their financial well-being. Source: pexels.com
Most Americans have developed good personal finance habits in 2020 and hope to improve their finances in the coming new year, the survey found.
The pandemic had the largest impact on their attitude towards their finances by 40%, and the election results affected their finances by 30%. In fact, about one in five said that none of these events influenced their opinion about their financial situation.
Those surveyed report that they generally feel less financially secure. They are more likely to say that COVID-19 has negatively impacted their financial security. This is in comparison with those who think they feel protected in general (51% and 19%).
In addition, one in four (39%) Millennials and Gen Z reported that the pandemic had a negative impact on their finances, compared to 24% of Baby Boomers.
When asked about the impact of elections on their safe of financial security, 36% of Americans said the election results haven’t affected. Meanwhile, 28% unveiled the results made them feel less relieved about their future financial situation.
Besides, 18% said they feel more assured, while the other 18% don’t know. At the same time, three in ten boomers, it is 32%, said they felt less financially free after the election. According to data, both Generation Z and X have this feeling at 28%.
76% of Americans say they have developed some personal finance skills in the past year, such as:
- Reduction of unnecessary costs – 48%
- Timely debt repayment – 30%
- Saving money regularly – 27%
- Regular contributions to retirement account 401 (k) or other retirement accounts – 19%
- Budget creating – 19% and a reserve fund creating – 15%
We’ve reported that card-not-present (CNP) transactions have increased by 30%. This can be associated with lockdowns and social distancing as a result of COVID-19.
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