Monday, April 21, 2025

Inflation Tops Healthcare As Biggest Financial Fear Among Retirees

Thu, 09 September 2021  |  retirement 

More than three-quarters (77%) of retirees and near-retirees cite declining purchasing power as a major concern, and that's greater than the share concerned about the cost of healthcare (74%), according to a new poll released today by Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine and industry-leading digital wealth management company, Personal Capital, an Empower Company.

Rounding out respondents' top five financial concerns about the future were the financial strength of Social Security (71%) and Medicare (67%), and the possibility of an impending recession (62%). The national poll ... Read More

Consumers Financial Confidence Is Up

Wed, 08 September 2021  |  consumers 

As the U.S. continues to make its way through the pandemic, a majority (51%) of Americans believe they are making real financial progress. However, trends from BMO's Real Financial Progress Index, a quarterly measurement of consumer sentiment about money, point to increases in consumer confidence potentially leading to negative behaviors that could undo consumers' financial progress. These findings are from the latest BMO Real Financial Progress Index, conducted by Ipsos. The national survey sampled adults aged 18+ in the U.S. from July 13 to Aug. 2.

Ov... Read More

Americans Reduce Their Personal Debt 20 Percent

Wed, 25 August 2021  |  economy 

The latest findings from Northwestern Mutual's 2021 Planning & Progress Study show that among U.S. adults aged 18+ who carry debt, they hold an average of $23,325 excluding mortgages. This represents a downward trend of over 20% since 2019.

Average Amount of Debt Per Year (exclusive of mortgages):

"The fact that people are making significant progress to decrease their debt is encouraging to see, especially at a time when many are still recovering from the financial impact and uncertainties prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic," s... Read More

Half of Americans Plan To Travel On Labor Day

Mon, 16 August 2021  |  recreation 

A new survey from The Vacationer (https://thevacationer.com/labor-day-travel-survey-2021/) shows 137 Million American adults (53%) plan to travel for Labor Day this year. Despite the increase in travel from the Fourth of July, 75% (194 million adults) say Covid-19 and the Delta variant is either a big concern or a slight concern when considering Labor Day plans.

The Vacationer polled 571 American adults over the age of 18 on August 1, 2021. Results were analyzed by The Vacationer's Eric Jones, who is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Rowan College South Jersey.

... Read More

Bidding Wars Drop To January Lows

Mon, 16 August 2021  |  housing 

In July, 60.1% of home offers written by Redfin agents faced competition, down from a revised rate of 66.5% in June and a pandemic peak of 74.1% in April, according to a new report from Redfin (redfin.com), the technology-powered real estate brokerage

While July's bidding-war rate was the lowest since January, it was still higher than the 57.9% bidding-war rate we saw in July 2020, when the housing market was recovering following a shutdown caused by pandemic restrictions.

Homebuying conditions have been improving this summer following months of fierce competition and so... Read More

More Smaller Homes Hit Housing Market

Tue, 10 August 2021  |  housing 

July housing trends show some good news for first time buyers. New listings grew on a yearly basis for the fourth month in a row as sellers added a higher number of smaller homes to the market, according to the Realtor.com^® Monthly Housing Report released today. Growth in the U.S. median listing price continued to moderate last month, but data shows some of this trend can be attributed to the increase in lower-priced homes for sale.

Nationally, the number of homes for sale declined 33.5% year-over-year in July. While inventory is still lower compared to last year... Read More