Survey shows Coronavirus Pandemic Raises Widespread Worry About Personal Finances

Las Vegas, NV – In a survey conducted between March 23rd and 27th, 2020, the National Financial Educators Council surveyed 4,803 people to better understand the connection between the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and personal finances.

The goal of asking these survey questions was to measure people’s readiness for an emergency event, the impact of the coronavirus on people’s finances, and the concerns people have based on the outbreak.

Following are some data our team found interesting:

• The Coronavirus (COVID-19) has had a “Very Negative Impact” on people’s financial situations and respondents reported being “Very Concerned” about the financial impact of the outbreak over the next 3 months.
• People are almost equally concerned about contracting the coronavirus as they are about their personal finances.
• About the same percentage felt “Very Unprepared” as those who felt “Very Prepared” for the personal financial impact of the coronavirus crisis.

See full data and all survey results at:  https://www.financialeducatorscouncil.org/coronavirus-and-personal-finance-data/.

Questions from the survey include:

When asked, “Select your bigger concern now:” 58.8% of respondents selected “Contracting the COVID-19 virus” while 41.2% selected “Personal finance concerns.”

To the question, “How concerned are you that the COVID-19 virus will have negative impact on your personal financial situation over the next 3 months?” 70.8% of the respondents answered “Somewhat Concerned” or “Very Concerned.”

When asked, “What impact has the COVID-19 outbreak had on your personal finances?” 30.9% answered “Somewhat Negative Impact” while 27.3% answered “Very Negative Impact.”

See more results here.

As Vince Shorb, CEO of the NFEC states, “The data show that we all are affected by the coronavirus outbreak, but we can get through this crisis by working together.

The NFEC has a mission of helping people work toward financial wellness, and we remain firm in that goal. In these scary and difficult times, achieving such financial security becomes critical. We’ll emerge from this crisis with an even greater passion and need to help people improve their personal financial situations.”   

These results emphasize the importance of financial preparedness for unplanned events.  With National Financial Literacy Month starting April 1st, the NFEC is using these results to encourage people to prepare financially for potential future global epidemics that impact their personal financial situation. 

About the National Financial Educators Council

The National Financial Educators Council (NFEC) conducts financial literacy surveys, research, studies, and hosts think tanks around topics related to personal finance. The objective is to gather empirical data on the state of personal financial behaviors, knowledge, sentiment, and situations. The data are used to share best practices with others in the financial literacy and financial coaching industries.

The NFEC seeks to gain a deeper knowledge about how to create the conditions that help people achieve a state of financial wellness. The research can give organizations data to effectively support development of personal finance skill sets.