Been wondering how everyone is going with their moolah?
/Data for the latest Australian Financial Attitudes and Behaviour Tracker for the period of September 2015 and February 2016 has been released by ASIC. The report offers us a picture of Australian adults and their financial attitudes and behaviours, taking into consideration gender, life stage, households, and retirement and income when evaluating financial decisions.
Key findings include:
- Three-fifths of those surveyed are confident managing their money, leaving two-fifths who aren't so much
- Less people than the last report by five per cent (down to 52 per cent) said they spend a lot of time thinking about financial information prior to making a decision, particularly under-35s, the demographic that decreased by 11 per cent this time
- More under-35s are likely to report buying things on impulse (44 per cent, up nine per cent)
- Under-35s indicated they find financial matters somewhat difficult to understand (24 per cent, down four per cent) than those aged over 35 (13 per cent)
- About a third find dealing with money stressful and overwhelming (30 per cent), with women more likely to feel like this than men (36 per cent compared to 24 per cent respectively)
- Most people - 90 per cent - kept track of their finances somehow
- Almost 75 per cent said they used a budget in the past six months, with more than half saying they stuck to it mostly or always (63 per cent)
- Those under 35 reported using a budget more often than those over 35, but not by much - 79 per cent versus 72 per cent respectively
- Over 80 per cent of those surveyed said they had saved some money in the past six months, with the most common method of saving being a savings account not linked to their pay (38 per cent), but this still won't save a small portion of us in an emergency lasting more than three months
There is some useful financial planning data, regarding who is making what sorts of plans in the full version of the report.
