Intuit Study Reveals Americans Feel Prosperity is Currently Out of Reach But Remain Hopeful For The Future

Download as PDF

Nearly 60% of Americans believe the U.S. economy is a major barrier to achieving prosperity and living the life they want

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU), maker of TurboTax, QuickBooks, Mint, and Turbo, today released findings from The Pursuit of Prosperity Study. In support of its mission to power prosperity around the world, Intuit surveyed more than 3,000 Americans, in partnership with Kelton Global, to better understand the complexities of achieving prosperity today. The study found that many Americans, while facing many financial barriers, feel prosperity is currently out of reach. However, they are optimistic for the future, and fueled by a new entrepreneurial spirit.

Americans Struggle to Reach Financial Goals

The study found that nearly four out of five Americans (78%) feel prosperity is currently out of reach. Just as many Americans (78%) are delaying personal milestones like purchasing a home (30%), retiring (22%), starting a family (22%), starting a business (19%) or getting married (19%).

While prosperity means different things to different people, the vast majority (87%) agree that achieving their financial goals is crucial to living the life they want. However, over half of Americans (55%) don’t feel confident in their ability to manage their finances, and cite this as a major barrier to prosperity. This creates financial situations which make achieving prosperity difficult such as living paycheck-to-paycheck (45%), not having any money in savings (44%), being too far in debt (36%) and not being able to fully support themselves (19%).

Socioeconomic Factors Pose Threats to Prosperity

While the U.S. economy and employment data show signs of consistent growth, they don’t paint the full picture of prosperity in the U.S. Despite economic growth, more than half of Americans (58%) believe the economy is a major factor holding them back from achieving a prosperous life. In addition, nearly half of Americans (46%) cite demographic factors like ethnicity, gender, race and sexual orientation as hurdles to prosperity.

Despite Barriers, Americans Remain Optimistic about Financial Success

Even with these challenges, 80% of Americans see financial success in their future and 58% are hopeful they will achieve prosperity over time. Moreover, while only approximately one in five (19%) believe they are currently prosperous, Americans born outside of the U.S. are even more hopeful to achieve a prosperous life than their U.S.-born counterparts (71% vs. 58%).

Side Hustles and Entrepreneurism are on the Rise

Many Americans are taking their future into their own hands. More than a third of Americans (36%) are considering getting a side gig or an additional source of income, and 37% are considering becoming business owners or self-employed within the next five years.

This entrepreneurial spirit is resulting in improved quality of life. Small business owners are nearly twice as likely to feel more prosperous compared to those who work 9-to-5 jobs. One-third (33%) say they have achieved prosperity because of the decision to open a small business and be their own boss.

To learn more about the survey, visit intuit.com/prosperitystudy and share your prosperity story using #ProsperityForAll.

Survey Methodology

This survey was fielded to 3,163 Americans ages 18+ in the U.S. via an online survey from February 11-19, 2019. Participants are members of opt-in panels and were recruited via email invitation. Quotas were set using U.S. Census figures to ensure the demographic breakdown of the sample is representative of the larger population of U.S. adults. Statistical significance is based off a confidence interval of 95%. A value being statistically significant compared to another value means there is a 95% chance that the difference between those two values is real, not just for this instance, but that it can be translated to the population. All comparison points within our data are statistically significant. Results of any sample are subject to sampling variation. In this particular study, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result did not vary, plus or minus, by more than 1.7% from the result that would be obtained if interviews had been conducted with all persons in the universe represented by the sample. The margin of error for any subgroups will be slightly higher. The base sizes of all subgroups within the analysis are 100+.

About Intuit

Intuit’s mission is to Power Prosperity Around the World. Our global products and platforms, including TurboTax, QuickBooks, Mint and Turbo, are designed to empower consumers, self-employed and small businesses to improve their financial lives, finding them more money with the least amount of work, while giving them complete confidence in their actions and decisions. Our innovative ecosystem of financial management solutions serves approximately 50 million customers worldwide, unleashing the power of many for the prosperity of one. Please visit us for the latest news and in-depth information about Intuit and its brands, and find us on social.

Scott Fulmer
Scott_Fulmer@intuit.com
650-944-4042

Source: Intuit Inc.

Released April 23, 2019