7% of people making money resolutions see them ‘hang in tatters’ a week later
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One in 14 people who have set themselves money resolutions for the new year in the past have ditched them a week later, a survey indicates. Two fifths (41%) of people have previously made financial resolutions and 7% did not manage to stick to them for more than a week, according to Hargreaves Lansdown.
One in six (16%) have never stuck to their financial resolution for longer than a month, and four fifths (78%) have not managed to last longer than a year, the Opinium survey of 2,000 people in September found. However, two-fifths (40%) of over-55s who have made a financial resolution said they had stuck with it for longer then a year, suggesting that persistence could pay off.
Sarah Coles, head of personal finance, Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Around a week into the new year and already 7% of financial resolutions hang in tatters, after the optimism that carried us aloft into the new year has been swiftly flattened by the relentless steamroller of reality.”.
There's also the chance that older people have had more time to learn from their mistakes. She added: “Success rates vary with age, with 40% of those aged 55 and over having stuck with at least one financial resolution for at least a year – compared to 25% of those aged 35 to 54 and 11% of those aged 18 to 34.
“However, there’s a decent chance this owes more to the fact they’ve had more goes at it than any particular resolve that comes with age. “There’s also the chance that older people have had more time to learn from their mistakes, which is something we can all benefit from if our resolutions have fallen at the first hurdle.”.
