CreditWise® from Capital One® Financial Milestones Survey

To better understand how people are thinking about their financial future in 2020 and in the new decade, Capital One fielded a survey among 2,000 American adults. 

In conjunction with OnePoll, the interviews were conducted online on Nov.13-15, 2019. Results from the full survey have a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points. 

Key Survey Findings

A new decade is a time for new resolutions and seven in 10—71 percent—of survey respondents are optimistic they’ll achieve their financial milestones by 2030. 

• When thinking about goals and resolutions in general, financial goals were the most thought about (30 percent) ahead of health goals (20 percent), life goals (17 percent), and family goals (17 percent). 
• Financial milestones for the new decade varied from going debt free (56 percent) to buying a house (51 percent), showing that people are thinking ahead and want to use the new decade to start planning for their future.
• Other major milestones included: taking a dream vacation (40 percent), getting married (38 percent), and becoming financially independent (36 percent).

When looking at resolutions for 2020, nearly half of respondents (44 percent) have a financial goal as one of their New Year’s resolutions.

• Nearly all the respondents (94 percent) took action at the end of 2019 to prepare financially for 2020 by maxing contributions to retirement plans (49 percent), donating to charity for tax breaks (45 percent), and getting ahead of recurring payments (43 percent). 
• Of those with a financial New Year’s resolution, 71 percent are planning to save more money and 34 percent are planning to pay off debt. 
• To save more, respondents are planning to eat out less (51 percent), cancel unnecessary subscriptions (47 percent), cable cut (40 percent), and pack lunch (21 percent). 
• Nine in 10 respondents (91 percent) are confident they’ll achieve their 2020 financial resolutions.
• However not everyone is looking forward to addressing their finances in 2020. One in four (26 percent) would rather get a cavity filled than make a yearly budget. 

Credit scores are a key factor for respondents when thinking about their financial milestones and goals.

• Six in 10 respondents (64 percent) worry that their credit score will prevent them from achieving a financial goal.
• Nearly six in 10 respondents (59 percent) would tell their younger selves to start building their credit scores earlier. Others recommend to start saving for retirement (67 percent) and a house (60 percent) earlier. 

How CreditWise® from Capital One® Can Help You Achieve Your Financial Resolutions

Good credit can go a long way in helping consumers achieve their financial goals. One tool that can help customers improve their credit score is CreditWise® from Capital One®. CreditWise is a free credit monitoring tool that helps people monitor, understand, and improve their credit. With CreditWise, you can: 

• View your credit score, key factors, and accounts and balances reported to TransUnion®. You can access your profile as often as you want and see your updated score weekly.
• Access to your TransUnion® credit report, which includes information on your accounts and balances, inquiries, public records, and personal information. Review your credit report for signs of error, theft, or fraud. If something looks wrong, CreditWise will offer tips on what to do next.
• Receive clear, relevant, actionable and insightful suggestions based on your credit data and ranked score factor from TransUnion® to educate you on the knowledge necessary to proactively improve your credit score.