Personal Finance Habits and Confidence Survey

Thanks for taking a few minutes to talk about your finances! There are no right or wrong answers here — just your honest situation. This will take about 5 minutes and your responses are kept confidential.

Which statement best describes how you manage your monthly budget?

• I don't really track my spending
• I keep a rough mental budget but don't write it down
• I check my spending occasionally, but not on a set schedule
• I follow a detailed budget every month

In the last 3 months, how often have you done each of the following?

Thinking about your finances overall, how much stress do they cause you right now?

Which of these financial goals matters most to you right now, and which matters least?

• Paying off credit card or personal debt
• Building an emergency fund
• Saving for retirement
• Saving for a home purchase
• Saving for a child's education
• Growing investments outside retirement accounts
• Reducing student loan debt
• Affording day-to-day expenses comfortably

Thinking about a typical month's take-home pay, how do you split it across these categories? Your answers should add up to 100.

• Housing
• Debt repayment
• Savings & investments
• Everyday living expenses
• Discretionary/fun spending
• Insurance & healthcare

How confident are you that you're on track to meet your long-term financial goals?

Explore what's really driving the respondent's financial stress rating and the goal they ranked as mattering most. Ask what would need to change for that goal to feel achievable, what's gotten in the way so far (income, habits, unexpected costs), and whether they've taken any concrete step toward it in the last 3 months. If they reported low stress, probe what specific habits, savings buffer, or support system gives them that confidence.

Which tools do you currently use to manage your money?

• Budgeting app (e.g., Mint, YNAB)
• Spreadsheet
• Bank's built-in tools or alerts
• Financial advisor
• Pen and paper

Which range best describes your annual household income?

• Under $25,000
• $25,000–$49,999
• $50,000–$74,999
• $75,000–$99,999
• $100,000–$149,999
• $150,000 or more
• Prefer not to say

Which age range do you fall into?

• 18–24
• 25–34
• 35–44
• 45–54
• 55–64
• 65 or older
• Prefer not to say

That's everything — thank you for sharing something as personal as your finances. Your answers will be combined with others to help shape better tools and guidance for managing money.