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COVID-19

People adopted better financial habits during the pandemic

Mitchell Hartman Jun 22, 2021
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Ridofranz via Getty Images
COVID-19

People adopted better financial habits during the pandemic

Mitchell Hartman Jun 22, 2021
Heard on:
Ridofranz via Getty Images
HTML EMBED:
COPY

On the way through the pandemic, Americans got more serious about financial planning and security. That’s the upshot from two recent surveys of how people’s behavior and attitudes toward money have changed since the pandemic hit.

In its most recent survey of pandemic financial effects, Northwestern Mutual’s Christian Mitchell said the company found “people having adopted more beneficial financial habits, in terms of savings, thinking about financial security, financial planning, retirement.”

And when Bankrate asked people what financial changes they plan post-pandemic, analyst Greg McBride said, top of the list was “save more for emergencies.”

That’s what 27-year-old Taylor Neverman of Miami, Florida, is doing. She and her husband were both between jobs when the pandemic hit, and they spent down their savings to pay the bills.

“I was definitely really scared about something like that happening again and not being ready,” Neverman said. “Every, you know, month or so I try to like look back over our finances and see if there’s anything that maybe we need to do differently.”

They put their relief payments into savings to cover student loans and opened Roth IRAs for retirement. Neverman said they’re being more frugal even as they start going out again.

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