Most people view their finances in two ways – perception and reality. While they might perceive their situations one way, there are the everyday realities of budget, job security, inflation, interest rates and so on. But a third variable is confidence. And a New York Life Wealth Watch survey shows that 66% of American adults are confident in their ability to reach their financial goals.

In fact, 54% of American adults met or exceeded savings goals in 2022, on average reporting an aim to save $5,437 but in reality saving $5,011, according to the survey – not a bad number by any stretch of the imagination given the volatile year that passed.

"Over half achieved or even exceeded their 2022 savings goals, which is no small feat," says Suzanne Schmitt, Head of Financial Wellness, New York Life. "Americans, while feeling stressed about the macroeconomic environment, are finding ways to adapt their financial strategies to cope and are taking on a protection-oriented mindset to enable financial resiliency… we recognize people are very focused on shoring up savings, even though each individual's motivation for doing so may differ."