What Americans are saying about their financial health | The Numbers Racket

Americans are falling short on their financial health goals, according to a new survey of more than 350 respondents. 

The survey, conducted by Wallethub, a personal finance website, asked respondents to reflect on their overall financial health. 

Here’s what they had to say: 

More than half of Americans – 53 percent – reported that they are not on track for retirement or didn’t know if they were or not. 

Forty-nine percent of respondents said they are prepared for a financial emergency, compared to 30 percent who said they were not prepared. Another 21 percent of respondents said they didn’t know if they were prepared for a financial emergency or not. 

Respondents to the Wallethub survey expressed skepticism about credit scores, with more than 30 percent of respondents saying that they don’t trust credit scores.

A majority of respondents – 55 percent – also said that a credit score alone won’t help them manage their finances. 

Advice & Planning

The survey also found that while 40 percent of respondents said that a “complete look at their financial health would be very helpful,” 62 percent said that they “don’t feel that they currently get holistic financial advice.”

Wallethub also found that young people are nearly 3 times more likely than those over 59 to say that a “complete look at their financial health would be very helpful.” 

When asked to rank which component of their financial health they most need help with, 44 percent of respondents said Investing or retirement.