How The Economy Affects Our Saving Strategies

How are Americans saving in response to the down economy?

That’s what Barclays looks to answer through a new sponsored Harris Interactive survey that asked 2,300 U.S. adults how their saving habits have changed this year compared to last.

The short answer is that about half of all adults aren’t changing their habits at all. But among those who are, saving more is clearly the prevailing trend. What saving methods to consumers find to be the safest, and how would they react to an upswing in the Stock Market? PYMNTS.com’s Data Point takes a look. 

Are Spending Trends Changing?

According to the Harris survey, 49 percent of adults are saving the same amount of money as they did a year ago. Twenty-nine percent claim to be saving more, while 22 percent said they’re saving less. Thirty-seven indicated that they’d put more into savings if savings rates were higher, including 43 percent of those ages 55 or older.

Where We’re Placing Our Savings

Over a third (34 percent) of those surveyed said they viewed savings accounts or CDs as the safest place to keep funds, while 13 percent opted for IRAs and 401ks and another 12 percent went for keeping cash “on hand.” Sixteen percent said they believed there was no safe place to keep money, while 10 percent replied safety is in gold, silver and precious metals. Among the less common answers were real estate (5 percent), offshore accounts (2 percent) and stocks/bonds (4 percent).

Putting Savings In Stocks

The survey asked respondents how, if at all, they would reallocate their savings if the stock market improved. A whopping 70 percent said even if the market was looking up, they wouldn’t change their saving patterns at all. Twenty-three percent said they’d reallocate a small percentage of savings to the stock market, while six percent said they’d move a large part of their savings. Interestingly, one percent claimed they’d put all their money into stock.

To view more statistics from the survey, view the infographic below.