Do money worries keep you up at night? Few of us are immune to occasionally tossing and turning as we fret about whether our wallets are fat enough to cover wants and needs.
Recently, Fidelity Investments surveyed 1,794 couples for its 2024 Couples & Money Study and asked them to describe their biggest money worries.
Here are the top concerns they listed.
4. Building emergency savings
Survey respondents who cited this financial concern: 42%
Many people have heard the standard expert advice to put three months’ worth of living expenses into an emergency savings account. Yet, few of us have anything close to that amount saved.
So, make 2024 the year you fully fund an emergency savings account — or at least get started on doing so. Discover the “9 Tips for Starting an Emergency Fund Today.”
3. Making enough to live their dream lifestyle
Survey respondents who cited this financial concern: 47%
Over the past few years, life seems to be getting more expensive. Hopefully, inflation will keep subsiding, and prices will climb more slowly as they did prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But for now, many people are worried about making enough to afford day-to-day necessities, let alone a “dream lifestyle.”
For more on keeping rising prices at an arm’s length, check out the “10 Sure-Fire Ways to Beat Inflation.”
2. Paying for health care in retirement
Survey respondents who cited this financial concern: 51%
Some experts say you should expect to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on health care expenses during the course of your retirement. Others say that is a bit of an exaggeration.
Whatever the case, you are likely to shell out a fair amount of money for medical care as you age and your health deteriorates. And that reality has a lot of people tossing and turning at night.
1. Saving enough for retirement
Survey respondents who cited this financial concern: 54%
As we said earlier, life seems to be getting costlier. From rising prices at the grocery store to soaring college tuition and fatter health care bills, it’s getting tougher to find extra cash to save for retirement.
But no matter how challenging it is to save, building a decent-sized nest egg is essential. If you need a little guidance, read:
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