Australians prioritise spending on holidays and leisure over longer-term financial goals according to a nationwide poll from life insurer TAL.
The poll asked 1200 Australians to rate a number of financial goals as either ‘very important’, ‘quite important’ or ‘not at all important’.
Almost three quarters of Australians (74%) said their current financial priority was spending on leisure. This was followed by spending on holidays and saving for retirement, with 71% of people rating these goals as either ‘very’ or ‘quite’ important.
“These findings from our life insurance barometer project provide some interesting insights into the mood of the nation. Despite a pessimistic outlook for the economy in 2013, Australians will still celebrate the festive season with the customary focus on leisure spending,” said TAL managing director Jim Minto.
The financial priorities of Australians (% rating as very or quite important)
|
|
NSW/ACT
|
VIC/TAS
|
QLD
|
SA
|
WA
|
National
|
|
Spending on leisure
|
77%
|
73%
|
71%
|
72%
|
70%
|
74%
|
|
Saving for a holiday
|
72%
|
73%
|
73%
|
67%
|
66%
|
71%
|
|
Saving for retirement
|
76%
|
69%
|
70%
|
66%
|
64%
|
71%
|
|
Life insurance for financial protection
|
61%
|
51%
|
53%
|
49%
|
49%
|
55%
|
|
Acquiring new technology
|
51%
|
51%
|
45%
|
45%
|
42%
|
48%
|
|
Buying a car
|
44%
|
44%
|
41%
|
36%
|
40%
|
43%
|
|
Buying a new home
|
49%
|
43%
|
41%
|
36%
|
34%
|
43%
|
|
Getting a job
|
48%
|
46%
|
38%
|
42%
|
35%
|
42%
|
|
Paying for care of dependents
|
45%
|
40%
|
44%
|
38%
|
35%
|
42%
|
|
Saving for kids education
|
43%
|
37%
|
42%
|
31%
|
36%
|
40%
|
|
Paying for training
|
43%
|
35%
|
38%
|
34%
|
33%
|
38%
|
|
Buying an investment property
|
36%
|
31%
|
30%
|
26%
|
23%
|
31%
|