The latest report indicates women and young people are bearing the burden of financial worries, with debt on the increase and savings falling. Photo: 123RF
Financial confidence is falling and leaving people more concerned about their well-being.
There has been a decline in five key indicators tracked by the Financial Services Council's financial resilience index, including a drop in savings set aside for a rainy day.
Council chief executive Richard Klipin said the key finding was increasing worry about money.
"The latest 2023 edition has obviously some fairly concerning, confronting data," Klipin said.
"Almost one-in-two of us are worrying about money, daily or weekly, and that's an increase from last year of about 300,000 people."
The latest report also indicated women and young people were bearing the burden of financial worries, with debt on the increase and savings falling.
The concerns were driving an overall increase in negative feelings of well-being, with mental health issues disproportionately affecting younger generations, the report said.
The lack of confidence was also affecting decision-making when it came to selecting investments and planning for retirement.
There was little change in preparedness for retirement, with just 44 percent expecting to be reasonably financially prepared for retirement.
There was also an increase in the number of households with no investments - increasing by 17 percent.
However, the tight labour market was helping to support confidence when it came to job security, with 89 percent feeling either completely, or very or reasonably secure in their current employment, compared with 86 percent last year.
Financial literacy was also on the rise, with 4 percent more respondents indicating they had at least a good understanding across five areas of financial literacy.
