Never mind the nest egg—according to a recent survey, when Americans are faced with a windfall like a tax refund, they plan on spending it.
According to this year’s "Capital One Bonus and Tax Survey," almost two-thirds of Americans, 61 percent, say they would rather spend their tax refund on something they need now than save it for something they want later.
Digging deeper, the survey found that Americans aren’t spending their refunds frivolously—just 14 percent said they would consider tax return money something they could splurge with.
Last year, the IRS reported that it paid out approximately 40 million refunds at an average of more than $3,120 per filer. This year, much of that money will go right back into the economy, according to the survey.
When Capital One gave participants a choice whether to spend or save their refund, they were evenly split: 41 percent decided to save, while 40 percent said they would spend it on debts or needed purchases.
More than half of Capital One’s respondents, 51 percent, said they feel good about spending their refund on necessities; at the same time, 23 percent of them said they wished they could spend it on things they want.
Americans feel differently about their bonuses, according to Capital One: 42 percent said their first instinct is to sock away bonuses into emergency or retirement savings, while 12 percent said their instinct was to spend the money.
The study included responses from 1,000 adults age 18 to 54 and skewed toward millennials (those 18 to 34). The survey was conducted from March 2 to March 4, 2016.