You might think that the turn of the calendar from one year to the next would make people conscious of the passage of time—and, thus, more concerned with their future retirement.

Not so, according to the seventh annual New Year’s Resolution Survey from Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America. Instead, people are focusing more on their health, making resolutions that top all other concerns but faith and family.

Nearly half (44 percent) of respondents reported their top focus for 2016 will be on health/wellness. Financial stability trailed by a hefty margin, at just 29 percent, while career/employment, at 13 percent, education, at 9 percent, and entertainment/leisure, at a paltry five percent, came in considerably farther behind.

Forty-three percent of respondents said that they’re most likely (oh, those optimists!) to make and keep their resolution of diet/exercise, while 41 percent (still dreaming of post-holiday sales, no doubt) said they’d manage money better in the year to come.

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And nearly one out of every three didn’t even bother to include financial planning in their resolutions because of this dismal view: they “don’t make enough money to worry about it.”

That gloomy outlook arises out of people’s fears. “We know from our research that financial health weighs heavily on people’s minds,” said Katie Libbe, Allianz Life vice president of consumer insights. Libbe added, “[S]tagnant wages were a top concern and one in three respondents reported they fear another major recession may happen in 2016.”

Even though they’re not planning (financially) for the future, respondents believe the top three things that could improve their finances in 2016 are building their savings for emergencies, paying off credit card debt, and making a budget.

And even though they’re ostensibly focused on their health, a telling factor of where their thoughts really are is the fact that, if offered free access to professional guidance, more respondents chose a financial professional (37 percent) than a nutritionist/dietician (28 percent) or a personal trainer (23 percent).

And they obviously recognize that they have some problems. Some of the top problems cited were: spending too much money on things “I don’t need” (29 percent); saving some money, “but not as much as I could” (28 percent); not saving any money (26 percent) and spending “more than I make” (19 percent).

No wonder they’re not thinking about retirement….

Instant Insights /

Health tops retirement in New Year finance resolutions

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