Updated: Friday, February 9, 2024

Background: More Americans plan to put an emphasis on their finances in the new year as inflation and rising interest rates affect their long-term financial outlook, according to the 2023 New Year’s Resolutions Study from Allianz. This Research Minute examines results from this year’s study.

Findings: Americans are closing the book on 2023 with mixed emotions. While the pandemic fades into the rearview mirror, soaring living costs remain a major concern (56% listed in top two worries). Almost 7 in 10 (69%) say they are concerned the rising cost of living will affect their ability to save for retirement. Additionally, financial stress is mounting, as 39% feel more pressured than last year.

Despite these challenges, Americans remain optimistic about their 2024 resolutions with 77% confident in keeping one. This includes “Manage money better/save more”— a resolution that nearly half (48%) are confident they will make and keep, which is the highest since the tracker started in 2009.

Source: 2023 New Year's Resolutions Study, Allianz Life

While most are focused on general financial habits rather than behaviors regarding their employer-sponsored plan, a few trends emerge when we examine the worst financial habits of specific generations:

Millennials: More Millennials named not taking full advantage of their company’s 401(k) matching program (9% vs. 3% of Gen X and 1% of Baby Boomers). These individuals may be prioritizing day-to-day expenses over saving for the long term.

In fact, 17% of Millennials named paying bills late among their worst financial behaviors.

Gen X: An increasing number of Gen Xers ranked taking money from their 401(k) plan (10% in 2023 vs. 7% in 2022 vs. 3% in 2021) among their worst behaviors. This may be related to having high debt, which also ranked high for Gen X. Baby Boomers: While they report the lowest rates of poor financial behaviors regarding their employer-sponsored retirement plans (only 1% listed not taking full advantage of their company match), various retirement risks remain top of mind including cost-of-living, healthcare costs and market uncertainty.

Source: 2023 New Year's Resolutions Study, Allianz Life

Bottom line: For a strong retirement, participants of all generations will need to include strategies to mitigate risk to their retirement. Americans say that the top actions they could take to reduce risk to their retirement include downsizing current spending (34%), putting money in a financial product that would protect them from market drops (23%), and developing a plan to address the rising cost of living in retirement (21%).

For additional insights from Allianz, visit their Insights and Education site. 1

Allianz Life conducted the 2023 New Year’s Resolutions Study online in November 2023 with a nationally representative sample of 1,005 respondents age 18+. Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America does not provide financial planning services.

For institutional use only, not for use with the public.