Americans Look to Generate Additional Income Streams As They Report High Levels of Financial Anxiety

Chicago, IL, October  2, 2023 – This quarter’s BMO Real Financial Progress Index reveals that eight in ten (80%) Americans cite their current overall financial situation as a cause of financial anxiety for them. At the same time, the majority (82%) of Americans express interest in some type of personal financial information.

Americans express the most interest in the following personal finance topics:

• Investment strategies (43%)
• Generating additional income streams (37%)
• Saving for large purchases (27%)
• Budgeting tips (26%)
• Debt management (24%)

Americas’ interest in these topics come as most (80%) express anxiety at their overall financial situation. The leading causes for Americans’ financial anxiety include:

• Fear of unknown expenses that may come up (83%)
• Housing costs (67%)
• Family-related expenses (68%)
• Medical expenses (62%)
• Credit card debt (50%)

Concerns over family expenses (68%, +5 from Q3 2022), housing costs (67%, +4 from Q3 2022), credit card debt (51%, +3 from Q3 2022), keeping up with monthly bills (62%, +3 from Q3 2022) and unexpected expenses (83%, +2 from Q3 2022) grew for Americans over the past year. Meanwhile, only about four in ten (43%) believe they are making real financial progress and a further four in ten (43%) feel that they currently don’t make enough money to put into savings after paying their expenses.

Americans Increasingly Looking to Their Bank for Help Making Financial Progress

To help them make financial progress and achieve their financial goals, Americans are increasingly looking to their bank. Over half (53%) of Americans say their bank or bank’s financial advisor is important in helping them reach their financial goals, which is significantly higher than a year ago (49% in Q3 2022). Online banking apps are also proving popular with Americans. Six in ten (60%) Americans say the tips and tools in their digital banking app help them make real financial progress. Further, around half of Americans set financial goals through their digital banking platform (49%) and report improvement in their financial progress since using their digital banking platform (54%).

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between June 27th and July 28th, 2023, on behalf of BMO Financial Group. For this survey, a sample of 2,500 adults aged 18+ in the United States was collected. Quotas and weighting were employed to ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the U.S. population according to census parameters. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 2.4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Americans aged 18+ been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Sean Simpson
Senior Vice President, Ipsos Public Affairs Canada

+1 416 324 2002
[email protected]

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