Northwestern Mutual today released data from its 2013 Planning and Progress Study showing that more than six in ten (63%) Americans say their financial planning needs improvement; and that the No. 1 obstacle is not having enough time (24%).

“There’s an interesting parallel that exists between managing your finances and managing your day-to-day life in that it’s so easy to let short-term needs and wants over shadow the more critical long-term goals,” said Greg Oberland, Northwestern Mutual executive vice president. “We’re all susceptible, particularly today, as we’re often overloaded with information and over scheduled.”

Oberland added that Northwestern Mutual’s study results should be read as “a wake-up call to put long-term financial planning on our collective to-do lists.”

Time-Strained America
The majority of Americans (69%) say the pace of society makes it harder for them to stick with long-term goals. 

• More than one in four (26%) people say they either often or always feel too busy to think about long-term goals.
• Additionally, nearly one in three (31%) say they find the level of immediacy of society today – characterized by 24/7 connectivity and accessibility – to be distracting.

Half of All Americans Have No Financial Plan in Place
When people were asked to specify what type of planners they are:

• 40% described themselves as “Informal,” meaning they have a general sense of their goals and how to meet them, but no specific plan in place.
• An additional 9% say they are “Non-Planners,” meaning they neither have specific goals nor specific plans of any kind.
• One in three (34%) people describe themselves as “Disciplined,” meaning they know their goals and have a plan in place, but deviate at times because they don’t always stay on top of them.
• Just 16% say they are “Highly Disciplined,” meaning they know their goals, have a plan in place to meet them, and rarely deviate. 

Gen Y Shows More Discipline
When it comes to financial planning, Gen Y (ages 25-32) may be the most disciplined generation with 24% saying they are “Highly Disciplined” planners. This is a 50% increase over the full-sample average (16%).

The discrepancy is even greater when comparing Generation Y (ages 25-32) to Baby Boomers (ages 47-66), among which only 14% are “Highly Disciplined.”

“While overall discipline remains low, we’re encouraged to see that the youngest generation of adults appears to be taking demonstrable action,” said Oberland.

This is the first set of findings released from Northwestern Mutual’s 2013 Planning & Progress Study, which explores the state of financial planning in America today, and provides unique insights into people’s current attitudes and behaviors toward money, goal-setting and priorities. The study was conducted by the independent research firm Harris Interactive. Northwestern Mutual will release additional results and a series of multi-media materials over the coming weeks.