A groundbreaking report has revealed just how
everyday Americans view their life and money.
The everyday wealth in America report conducted by Edelman
Financial Engines explores perceptions and concerns regarding personal wealth
so people can take better control of their financial well being.
And joining us today to discuss early insights from the study
are two of the top financial experts in the nation.
Gene Chatzky is a best selling author who now hosts
the Everyday Wealth podcast and Jason Van de Loot.
He is the co chief client officer for Edelman Financial Engines,
a Wealth planning firm that helps 1.3 million
people move their financial lives forward every day.
Welcome, Gene and Jason.
Thank you so much.
Now, Jan, what can you tell us about this year's everyday wealth in America study?
So in this year's piece of research,
we really dug into the intersection between your life and your money with
a focus on areas that we know have been particularly troublesome for consumers.
This year, we looked at home buying,
we looked at credit card debt and we looked
at the impact of money on your relationships,
really interesting takeaways
and Jason, what are some highlights from the study
this year.
Well, one of the first things we found,
Laura is very few Americans actually consider themselves wealthy.
Only 14% of those we surveyed said they feel wealthy.
And what was interesting to us is that 67% told us they would need
a million dollars in the bank in order to feel wealthy last year,
that number was only 57%.
So even in the last year with everything that's happened in the financial markets,
with inflation, with interest rates,
it's just getting a lot harder to build
wealth and to feel financially safe and secure.
Now, Jan mortgage rates are painfully high.
Can you talk to us about the challenges with home buying today?
Yeah, it's, it's not just mortgage rates. Unfortunately, it's inflation.
It's a lack of supply of homes to buy and consumers are really feeling it.
45% told us in the research that they are just discouraged from buying a home.
And about a third said they, I feel like the window to buy a home,
the opportunity has just passed them by.
And Jason, what can you tell us about the impact of credit card debt on consumers?
Well, unfortunately, we're buried in credit card debt as a nation.
We now hold more than $1 trillion in credit card debt.
And we found in our report that Americans
said credit card debt is the single biggest threat
in our ability to build wealth and as
those interest rates start pushing beyond 20% that's debt
that takes years to pay off.
And, and as Gene mentioned,
that stands in the way of making that down payment of buying that home and,
and building financial security.
Now,
Gene did the study uncover anything interesting about
the impact of money on our personal relationships.
Well, it did, um, we looked at people who had experienced a divorce,
62% of them said that money played a role.
We also took a look at social media and the impact of social media on our spending.
People who are spending more than three hours a day on social media cop to
the fact that social media is leading them to make purchases that they can't afford,
which as Jason said, is just another barrier in the way of financial security.
Now, Jason,
what can people take away from these findings
and where can they go for more information?
Well, maybe first take a break from Tik Tok.
What we learn from this is that money and life are always intersecting
and we need to find ways to have healthier conversations about money.
The research told us that 76% of people who work with a financial professional,
feel less stressed about their money, but only 37% have taken that step.
So we'd encourage you to find us at every
wealth dot com.
You'll find all of our podcasts where Gene is talking
about these challenges every week with our financial planners,
you'll find the opportunity to connect with a financial
planner yourself and just take that first step,
have that first conversation and move toward
less stress and more financial security.
For more information, visit everyday wealth dot com. We'll see you next time.