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This story appears in the June/July 2009 issue of Cards&Payments.
The weak economy is making most young adults more financially conservative, according to a recent report by Charles Schwab Corp.
An online survey of 1,252 adults ages 23 to 28 Lieberman Research Worldwide conducted in January on behalf of Schwab found that 71% of respondents were very concerned about the economy, and 53% said they were equally worried about their personal financial futures.
As a result of their financial worries, 62% of respondents said they eat out less often, 73% shopped "for fun" less often, 52% were saving more, and 47% were modifying vacation plans. Even so, the average nonmortgage debt carried by survey respondents was $14,020.
Some 33% of respondents with credit cards said they paid off their entire card balances each month. Forty-five percent said they paid "more than the minimum but less than the total balance," 13% paid only the minimum required each month, and 9% paid only what they could. Sixty-two percent of respondents said they had credit cards, and 79% had debit cards.
Asked how prepared they were to make good financial choices, 32% of respondents said they felt well prepared, and 52% said they felt adequately prepared to live within their means. In terms of using debt wisely, 25% said they felt well prepared and 47% said they felt adequately prepared. The remaining 28% said they felt poorly prepared to use debt wisely.
Thirty-two percent of respondents said they wished they had learned more about how to use credit cards wisely before they entered the workplace, 45% said they wish they had learned more about living within a budget, and 42% said they wish they had learned more about the importance of saving.
