Survey: Sticking to a budget top concern among Rhode Islanders

GOBANKINGRATES.COM surveyed residents in all 50 states and the District of Columbia about their biggest financial challenge. In Rhode Island, it's sticking to a budget. / COURTESY GOBANKINGRATES.COM
GOBANKINGRATES.COM surveyed residents in all 50 states and the District of Columbia about their biggest financial challenge. In Rhode Island, it's sticking to a budget. / COURTESY GOBANKINGRATES.COM

PROVIDENCE – Sticking to a budget is the top financial challenge for Rhode Islanders, according to the 2015 Life + Money survey by GOBankingRates.com.
The personal finance website asked residents in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., about their biggest financial challenges, giving them seven to choose from: saving for a home, planning for retirement, paying off credit cards, sticking to a budget, paying for higher education, building an investment portfolio and saving up an emergency fund.
One in five Americans said sticking to a budget is their biggest challenge and another one in five report planning for retirement is their focus. In fact, the latter was the greatest challenge among Massachusetts respondents, the website stated.
Casey Bond, editor-in-chief of GOBankingRates.com, said it is “not a huge surprise that retirement planning is the biggest financial challenge among Americans overall, given near-zero interest rates and ongoing market volatility.”

Key study findings include:

  • 60 percent of Western states are most concerned with sticking to a budget – the No. 2 overall biggest challenge for Americans.
  • Two-thirds of Midwest states say retirement planning is their biggest challenge.
  • Saving for a home and building an investment portfolio are not among the biggest concerns for residents of any state.

The 2015 Life + Money Survey is comprised of findings from five Google consumer surveys conducted in July and August. Sample sizes range from 1,000 to 10,003 respondents of U.S. adults ages 18 and older. The margin of error was 2.2 percent or lower.

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