July 16, 2010 11:58 ET

Despite Tenuous Economic Recovery, 46% of Americans Feel They Are in Good Financial Health

Results of SelectQuote Personal Finance Survey Shows Confidence in Financial Health, Yet Concerns About Retirement and Impact of Unexpected Events; Americans More Concerned About Life Insurance Than Health Insurance

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - July 16, 2010) -  After nearly a year since the U.S. economy emerged from recession, despite a tenuous recovery, a sizeable number of Americans feel they are in good financial health. According to the recently released SelectQuote Personal Finance Survey, 46% of Americans believe they are in good financial health; as compared to 40% who feel they are in average health and 14% who reported they are in poor financial health. The survey specifically examines the personal financial habits and opinions of Americans with household incomes of $50,000 per year or greater. 

Despite their reported overall health, Americans earning more than $50,000 per year are highly concerned with the state of their retirement planning, rainy day savings and preparation for unexpected events. When asked their most significant personal finance concern, Americans named retirement (35%), followed closely by concerns about the financial impact of the death of a primary financial provider (29%), their investment portfolios (23%) and health insurance (17%). 

Retirement planning is the area of personal finance that Americans claim most interest in, with 54% reporting that they "actively address" their retirement planning. Almost 4 in 10 Americans (39%) earning more than $50,000 per year report that they "actively manage" their investment portfolio. 

Close to half (46%) of Americans do not think they have fully or adequately addressed their life insurance needs, whereas a quarter (25%) of Americans feel the same way about their health insurance.

The vast majority of Americans (82%) spend just 1 to 5 hours a month managing their personal finances in 2010, with more than half spending under 2 hours a month handling personal finances. A strong subset of the population spends significantly more time managing their personal finances, with 12% or the population spending up to 10 hours a month on personal finances, and 4% spending up to 20 hours. Still, a majority (59%) feel they spend an adequate amount of time on their financial planning; while 40% acknowledge that they do not spend an adequate amount of time on their finances.

About half of all Americans (46%) are unsure if their current life insurance coverage is adequate or feel it is inadequate to provide for their families in the event of the death of a primary financial provider. A majority (51%) of Americans with more than $50,000 of household income say they are relying solely on their employer-sponsored life insurance, which financial experts warn is often inadequate coverage. Further, 38% of Americans are not aware of the differences between term life insurance and universal or permanent life policies. 

The primary difference is that term insurance is pure insurance, which makes it less expensive and more flexible. It pays only if death or other defined event occurs during the specified term of the policy, typically 10, 20, or 30 years. Permanent insurance policies, such as whole life, are just that -- permanent. They accrue cash value over the insured's life and perform more as investment instruments than as insurance. Most people buy term life insurance because it offers significantly lower monthly premiums for the same death benefit as a permanent policy. 

The survey, part of an ongoing series of personal finance surveys, is sponsored by SelectQuote (www.SelectQuote.com), the nation's number one term life insurance sales agency offering consumers quotes and comparisons from more than a dozen of the country's most highly-rated insurance carriers.