In 2024, Americans faced several financial challenges that impacted their ability to save and manage their finances effectively. Inflation remained a top concern, leading to increases in the cost of essentials such as housing, groceries, and utilities, and straining household budgets.

Credit card debt also reached record highs. Rising interest rates on credit cards and loans made it harder for consumers to pay down their balances. Additionally, many households depleted the excess savings they accumulated during the pandemic, leaving them with less of a financial cushion.

With all of this in mind, Yahoo Finance partnered with Marist Poll to survey more than 3,000 banked adults in the U.S. (those with at least one checking or savings account) to shed light on the financial struggles and concerns facing households. Here’s what Americans say have been their biggest barriers to saving and how they feel about their finances heading into 2025. (See our full methodology here.)

• Only 22% of respondents report being very or completely satisfied with their savings, while 35% are very or completely dissatisfied. Forty percent of women are very or completely dissatisfied with their savings, compared to 28% of men.

• Nearly half (48%) of respondents saved less in 2024 compared to the previous year, with only 21% saving more.

• Nearly half (47%) of respondents cite the cost of living as their biggest obstacle to saving.

• One-third (33%) of respondents couldn’t cover bills for even one month if they lost their income.

• 44% of respondents believe they will save more in 2025, with optimism highest among Gen Z (63%) and millennials (53%).

• Sixty percent of respondents say they are more optimistic about their finances for the coming year with Donald Trump as president. This optimism crosses generational lines, with Gen Z (70%) as the most optimistic.

We set out to learn more about how higher costs and competing financial obligations have impacted Americans’ savings. Here’s what we found:

In a post-COVID-19 world, the rising cost of living dominated financial news headlines. Many households felt the pinch as inflation reached a 40-year high of 9.1% in June 2022. Though the inflation rate has since tempered (the Consumer Price Index was up 2.7% year over year in November 2024), the sky-high costs of housing, groceries, and other essentials are here to stay for the foreseeable future.

Overall, our survey found that most respondents describe the cost of living in their area as “not very affordable” (45%), while another 22% say it’s not affordable at all.

On the other hand, Gen Z respondents were more likely to describe the cost of living as “very affordable” (9%) compared to other generations: millennials (8%), Gen X (3%), and baby boomers/silent/greatest generations (2%).

Not only are survey respondents unhappy with the cost of living in their area, but most are struggling to pay for necessities while putting money away for the future.

Just over a quarter of survey respondents say they live comfortably. Older Americans (baby boomer/silent/greatest generations) were more likely to say they live comfortably (40%).

Meanwhile, 31% of respondents are able to meet their basic expenses with a little money left over for extras, while another 30% are just able to meet their basic expenses. And 12% say they don’t have enough money to cover their basic living expenses.

Everyone’s savings goals are different, based on lifestyle, family size, debt obligations, and more. When it comes to whether Americans are satisfied with how much they’ve saved so far, the results are mixed.

Thirty-five percent of respondents in our survey are dissatisfied with the amount of money they’ve saved. Women (40%) are more likely than men (28%) to say that they are very or completely dissatisfied with their savings — perhaps not surprising given the financial challenges that many women face, including the gender pay gap and a higher burden of caregiving responsibilities.

Read more: What is the average savings by age?

This past year proved to be a difficult one for Americans’ savings. Despite historically high deposit account interest rates, consumers were also faced with inflation, skyrocketing interest rates on debt, record-level education costs, and more.

Nearly half of respondents in our survey report they saved less money in 2024 compared to 2023; only 21% reported saving more money. Nearly a third of respondents said they saved about the same amount.

Overall, women were more likely to say they’ve saved less money in 2024 than they did in 2023 (53% versus 42% of men), especially millennial and Gen X women (57% and 59%, respectively).

Read more: How to save money in 2025: 50 tips to grow your wealth

With a new year — and a new administration — we sought to find out how Americans believe their savings habits will change in 2025.

It’s not all doom and gloom, especially for younger savers. Younger Americans are more likely to say they will save more: 63% of Gen Z and 53% of millennials versus 44% of Gen X and 25% of baby boomers/silent/greatest generations.

Most likely to save about the same amount in 2025 are those in the baby boomer/silent/greatest generations (44%). Women, however, are more likely than men to say they will save less this year (27% vs. 20%, respectively).

Read more: The 4 best (and worst) places to keep your emergency fund

We wanted to learn more about the various challenges savers are facing that are preventing them from reaching their savings goals.

Nearly half of respondents (47%) pointed to cost of living as their biggest obstacle when it comes to saving money. Other common reasons included unexpected bills or expenses (11%), too many financial obligations (10%), and change of income or employment status (10%).

Older Americans were most likely to report they face no challenges to saving money (19%).

Gen Zers and millennials are most likely to ask family and friends for help in a financial emergency

In times of financial distress, there are several avenues you might take to cover your bills — some of which are better for your bottom line than others.

The largest percentage of respondents (26%) say that their solution would be to tap into their savings. Fifteen percent say they’d cut down on their spending, while 14% would pick up an extra job or more hours at work.

Another 10% of respondents say they would ask a family member or friend for help in a financial emergency, with Gen Zers and millennials the most likely to do so (15% for both).

Gen Xers and baby boomers/silent/greatest generations are more likely to put their expenses on a credit card (10%).

Most experts recommend saving at least three to six months’ worth of expenses in an emergency fund. However, given the many barriers to saving that Americans face, not everyone is able to meet this guideline.

The average length of time respondents could cover their expenses using money that is readily available in their checking or savings account is seven months.

However, about one in three respondents say they would not be able to cover their bills and expenses for even one month. Gen Z (38%) and millennials (41%) are more likely than other generations to say they could not pay their bills for one month.

In contrast, Gen X and baby boomers/silent/greatest generations (19% for both) are more likely than younger generations to have enough savings to manage for one year or more.

Read more: How much money should I have in an emergency savings account?

For better or worse, with a new administration often comes a new economic agenda. And most Americans are expecting positive changes.

A majority of respondents (60%) are more optimistic about their personal finances with Trump as the next president. This was the consensus across generations, with Gen Z being the most optimistic (70%). Baby boomers/silent/greatest generations were the most pessimistic (46%).

Read more: How much of your paycheck should you save?

This survey of 3,131 adults was conducted Dec. 3 through Dec. 5, 2024, by the Marist Poll sponsored in partnership with Yahoo Finance. Adults 18 years of age and older residing in the United States were contacted through a multi-mode design: By phone using live interviewers, by text, or online. All potential respondents were screened for age.

Probability-based sampling frames include RDD landline plus listed landline, RDD cell phone sample plus cell phone sample based on billing address to account for inward and outward mobility within a state. These samples were provided by Dynata and used to administer the surveys collected via phone and text to web. A sampling frame based on aggregated non-probability online research panels was randomly selected from Cint’s digital insights platform to administer the surveys collected via web.

Survey questions were available in English or Spanish. All samples were selected to ensure that each region was represented in proportion to its adult population. The samples were then combined and balanced to reflect the 2022 American Community Survey five-year estimates for age, gender, income, race, and region.

Results for all adults (n=3,131) are statistically significant within ±2.1 percentage points. Results for banked households (n=2,828) are statistically significant within ±2.2 percentage points. The design effect for this survey is 1.4 which has been incorporated in the calculation of all reported margins of error. The partisan breakdown for this survey among registered voters is 38% Democrat, 36% Republican, and 25% Independent.