Americans have lots of things to worry about, but at the top of the list is their retirement followed by paying for healthcare costs.
In Gallup’s latest polling, worries over financial issues have increased across the board from 2015 suggesting that, despite the economic “recovery,” Americans feel even less certain about their financial position and ability to pay for unexpected and expected bills.
When asked how concerned they are right now about seven categories of financial matters, the top concern was the future as 64 percent are “very worried” or “moderately worried” about not having enough money for retirement up from 60 percent last year.
Not being able to pay medical costs for serious illnesses/accidents ranked second with 60 percent being "very" or "moderately worried" compared to half last year.
And now, just over half of Americans are concerned about maintaining the standard of living they enjoy, which is up from 46 percent in 2015.
Making rent/mortgage is not high on the list as only one in three Americans worry about it, but an increasing number of Americans worry about paying normal monthly bills.
Gallup concludes:
Americans' elevated concerns about various future or potential costs are in sync with their lower confidence in the U.S. economy now than a year ago and the fact that their spending has not changed over the prior year.
Americans' retirement funding remains atop their lists of concerns, with majorities also skeptical of their ability to pay for treatment of serious medical issues and worried their standard of living will deteriorate in the future. Despite some signs of gains for the economy, average Americans aren't feeling them — and are a bit more concerned than they have been in recent years.
Americans probably aren’t as sunny about the economy as President Obama, who has been boasting about having saved the economy. Yet our concern levels are creeping back up to where they were during the recession.
Interestingly, unexpected medical costs have surpassed not just recession levels of worry, despite having been assured that the President’s signature healthcare law, the Affordable Care Act, would be the solution to our broken healthcare system. But it has left millions of Americans uninsured. Given the annual premium hikes and the higher projected premium costs for 2017, it’s no wonder Americans are now more concerned about paying for unexpected healthcare costs than ever. ObamaCare still not the solution.